Who Are You?
by DizzyDawn007
Summary: What happens when Malfoy goes missing? Nothing. What happens when Hermione goes to America for the summer? Nothing. What happens when Hermione runs into a Draco that can't remember anything? Why everthing! COMPLETE!
1. Muggle friends and SHS

Who Are You?

Chapter 1: SHS and Summer Vacation

It was December 5, and Hermione, Harry, and Ron were at dinner in the great hall, talking about the day and classes. Hermione was just telling them about how she would be going to America for the summer. Ron was about to say something when there was a loud, piercing scream heard from the right side of the room. Everybody stopped what they were doing and tried to see the cause of the sceam. Pansy Parkinson had stood up and began running towards the great doors. Seconds later, Professor McGonagall was walking quickly after her, while people had now started whispering. Within 15 seconds there were romors flying about. Soon dinner was over and people were leaving for their common rooms. Everybody was wondering what was going on, and Hermione, Harry, and Ron were no different. It was about 10:00 p.m. when the note appeared upon the bulletin board. Hermione was the first person to notice and went over. After reading it quickly, she ripped it off the board and brought it over to where she had been sitting. She leaned in, and told the boys

"Guys, you'll never believe this! Malfoy's gone!"

"What are you talking about?"

"That was why Pansy was screaming earlier. Professor Dumbledore has officially declared Draco Malfoy a missing person! Nobody can figure it out. They've tried locating charms and all that, but nobody has found him yet. I wonder what happened to him"

"Why do you care? He's made our life a living hell. I'm glad he's gone" said Ron, getting back to his chess game with Harry.

"Yeah, maybe he died." Said Harry in a non-chalent way.

Hermione went to say something, but thought better of it, as she realized who she was trying to convince. She however, could not shake the feeling that something wasn't right. It would stay with her all through the rest of the year, as Malfoy didn't return, and no one found him.

It was June 15th now and Hermione was just preparing to take a flight to America. She would be staying with her friend, in Ohio. In the most boring, out of way town that there could possibly be. Her friend, Roxy, lived in Swanton, a very small village just outside of Toledo.

"Hermione, are you ready to go? We've got to leave by 10:30!"

"Yeah, Mum, be down in a minute!"

True to her word, Hermione came down the stairs, dragging her trunk in less than a minute. Her and her mom left for the airport, and Hermione was soon on her way. It was 4:30 in the morning when she got off the plane, to find Roxy and her parents waiting for her at the airport. As soon as they saw each other, Roxy rushed up and bombarded her with a hug. After Hermione got her lugage, they left for Roxy's house, where they promptly fell asleep. The next morning, Hermione awoke at nearly noon. She stumbled downstairs to find Roxy and her mom at the table.

"Geez, about time. Sleep long enough?" Roxy teased her

"Oh, really dear, you've only been awake for a couple minutes yourself."

They all started laughing, and Hermione asked Roxy what they were going to do.

"Well, tomorrow Roxy has school dear, and I let her stay home today because your flight came in so late, but she does have two more weeks left."

"What?! You still have school? Can I come with you? Oh my gosh, that would be so great! Can I, please?"

"What? You WANT to come to school? But why?" said Roxy, shocked.

"It would be such a great experience, and besides, I've never been to an American school. It'd be so cool! Please, can I go Mrs. Sena?"

"Well, I don't see why it would be a problem. There is nothing for you to do while she is at school. I'll go tomorrow and talk with the guidence councilor. I'm sure you could just tag along with Roxy."

"Great. Thanks so much! By the way, why are you guys still in school? You always said you got out early in the month."

"Oh, well you see, back in November, the teachers went on strike, for like three weeks. So now, we still have to make up the time, which is totally not cool, because it wasn't even our fault."

"Well, education is very important, and just think! I get to go to school with you! It'll be so fun! What do your uniforms look like?"

"Uniforms? God, I would die. We don't have uniforms. We do have a dress code, but you can sorta bend the rules on that, especially since it's summer now."

"No uniforms? Oh my goodness, what will I wear? I want to make a good example on the Professors."

"You mean teachers. And why do you care? You'll only be there for like two weeks."

"Ok, terms you would know. I want to look good. Who knows? Maybe I'll even boy scope with you."

"Ok, I get you now. Alright, lets go see what you brought with you!"

With that, Roxy dragged Hermione up the stairs to pick out clothes for the next day. The next morning dawned bright and early for the two girls. Hermione woke up around 5:00 a.m. She proceeded to wake up Roxy.

"go away. What time is it?"

"It's 5:30. I waited half an hour to wake you up. Come on, if you want to get yourself all nice and pretty, as well as me, then you have to get up."

"Oh, all right, but only to make you look like a girl."

Hermione giggled, something she didn't do often. " Alright. Come on then."

It was 6:50 by the time they were both ready. Mrs. Sena yelled upstairs.

"Ok, mom, prepare to be amazed." With that, she sent Hermione down the stairs. Mrs. Sena gasped as Hermione walked down.

"Hermione dear, you look so different! Just wonderful."

Hermione had on a pair of capris, with a vertical line, sewn into them. She wore an off the shoulder dark green top, that had "sweet & spicy" written in glittery loopy letters. A pair of dark green Vans adorned her feet, with black laces. Roxy had managed to make her hair a little less bushy (with the help of a little gel), and she had big, full curls now. Her hair had a little extra shine to it, and she had silvery hoop earings on. Simply fabulas. She was ready for her first day at Swanton High School.


	2. HackySack and

Hey! First off, I want to say THANKS BUNCHES to those of you who reviewed. You have no idea how much you made my day! And second, I will not beg you all to review. That is your choice, and I am able to take constructive criticism in stride. I ask one thing of you, though. Please don't write to tell me you hate it, without telling me why – cause that's just annoying. Oh, and I decided that I probably won't answer people individually, unless you have a question. Nothing personal. Anyway, here's the story.

Um, yeah, by the way – I don't own Harry Potter or anyone else, though I wouldn't mind it. But let's face it, I don't, and I suppose this is the next best thing. Ok, here's the story. Really.

Chapter 2 : Hacky Sack and…

(A/N ha ha, told you so! Sorry, couldn't help myself)

It was third block. Hermione had been through Civics, where she found Mr. Eckhart to be rather eccentric. After hearing her speak, he decided to give her the nickname 'Britain'. Since they were reviewing for their final exam, Hermione just read through the book. Roxy's second block was Math, with Mr. Hazelman. Roxy didn't pay attention, and passed notes to Hermione, while she scolded. She was shocked to learn that either he didn't care or didn't notice. She had a hard time swallowing both. So she was now in Mrs. Pearson's biology class, where it was a 'food day' as Roxy called it. Hermione came to the conclusion that Mrs. Pearson was a very peppy person, and liked to have excuses for class parties. Hermione went to C lunch with Roxy, and almost had a choked on her noodles when they began talking about witches. She soon found they were talking about a TV show, and made friends with everybody quickly. They weren't the kind of girls that giggled ALL the time, and they seemed to love reading as much as she did. And while most of Roxy's friends were in band, Roxy had choir fourth block. Hermione was nervous about that class.

"So, I won't have to sing, right? I mean, I don't know any of the songs, and…" she trailed off.

"No, don't worry about it. Today is just show choir, and I'm not in that, so we just have study hall for the whole block. Everybody pretty much just talks."

"Oh, well then. Where are we having study hall?"

"The auditorium. Almost everybody wants to watch show choir practice, and the hackers have space, so they like it too."

"The hackers?"

"Yeah. It's just a bunch of dudes that aren't in choir or anything. They play hacky-sack. See, there they are now."

Roxy and Hermione had come from the lockers to find a group of boys standing in a circle on the whole left wing of the auditorium.

"It looks like fun. Let's go over."

"No way. I don't know how to play."

"So, we can both learn. Come on."

Hermione dragged Roxy over to where they were all playing. A blonde had his head back to theirs, and she couldn't see his face. Hermione started to feel a little nagging voice in her head. One of the boys missed the little sack, and they finally took notice.

"Did you want anything?"

"No. Hermione was the one who wanted to come over here."

"Yeah, sorry if we bothered you. I've just never seen this kind of game before."

"Oh, it's cool. Hey, Ryan, ya hear that? Sounds like she's from England."

"No shit Sherlock." He said sarcastically.

Hermione recognized the voice right away.

"Malfoy?!?!"

She couldn't help herself. She clapped her hand over her mouth as he turned around. "Ryan" was now facing Roxy and Hermione. She looked at him, shocked. He was so different. He was wearing semi-baggy jeans and had a black T-shirt on that was just tight enough to show his muscles. He had on black Vans (perfect for hacky-sack), and his hair was different. It was sorta shaggy and his bangs were hanging in front of his eyes. Hermione was astonished. He stepped forward.

"Hey, you okay?"

That just pushed her over the edge. So she did the only thing she could think of. She fainted.

Hermione awoke to find water being sprinked over her head and felt someone looming over her. She hesitantly opened her eyes and then immediately closed them as she saw who was over her. It was Malfoy.

"Malfoy, what are you doing here?"

"Hey, who are you talking to? Open your eyes."

'Why would he ask whom I was talking to. I said his name. Well, his last name, but still.' She heard Roxy's voice.

"Hermione, what happened? Why did you faint?" She sat up as he was no longer over her, and opened her eyes.

"Mr. Hazelman went to get you a drink of water. He'll be back soon though. Are you alright?"

"Could you just stop talking right now, Malfoy?"

"Hermione, who are you talking too? His name is Ryan, not Malfoy. What kind of a name is Malfoy?"

"It's a last name. His first name is Draco. I call him Malfoy."

She stood up. They were all staring at her blankly. All except for Malfoy. He had a strange, unreadable look on his face. She stepped forward.

"Look, Draco, enough's enough. Why are you here? You left in the middle of the school year!"

"You know me? We went to school together?"

"Of course. And you know me. Hermione Granger. What is wrong with you? Why Swanton, Ohio of all places. How did you do it? Even Dumbledore couldn't find you."

"Look, I can't remember anything. How long have you known me? Were we friends?"

"What do you mean? Look Malfoy. Granger. Know it all Granger. Mudblood Granger. And now you're telling me you don't know me?"

"Draco. Draco Malfoy. What's a mudblood?"

Once again, her hand flew to her mouth. He really didn't know!

"What? Hermione, what's going on?"

"Roxy, can't talk now." She grabbed his hand, "I need to talk to you."

She pulled his through the halls until she found an empty classroom. She started pacing the length of the room. He reached out to stop her and pulled away when she flinched at his touch.

"We weren't friends, were we?"

Hermione stopped her pacing and sat on a desk.

"No. We were anything but. You were ferret-boy and I was mudblood Granger. You hated me because of my parents. You never gave me a chance. And…."

Hermione broke off. She put her head in her hands, and soon he realized she was silently crying. He went to comfort her, but she pulled away.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I just can't remember anything and… I'm sorry."

"It's just not possible. You don't remember any of it? Me slapping you in third year, beating you in grades, you making fun of me? Nothing?"

"I made fun of you? Why? You just said you beat me in grades, and it's not like you're ugly-"

He was about to go on, but she stopped him.

"Wait. You don't think I'm ugly?"

"No. I'm not blind. All the guys are talking about you. And the accent just makes you more-"

This time the bell cut him off. They were silent for a minute.

"I've got to find Roxy. Do you know where she lives?"

"Yeah, but – "

"Be there, tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. I'll be up."

"What about school? You don't seem like the type to just skip it, and I'm not either."

"Well, I'm assuming you want to know more about yourself, and with who you are, it doesn't really matter."

"Was. Who I was. Past tense." After he said that, he walked past her and left the room. Hermione would repeat those very words to herself countless times that night, wondering what it could mean. She told Roxy that she wouldn't be going to school with her anymore. Roxy didn't question it, because after all, it was school. That night she wrote a very important, if not somewhat cryptic letter.

So? How'd you like it? Sorry it took so long, and I do plan on updating as regularly as I can. I'm in school right now, and exams are here. But next semester will be much easier. So, in turn, it will be easier to update more often.

Vamoose! BAM! Swoosh! $arah


	3. Tea and Shouting

Hey! Guess what! EXAMS ARE OVER!!!!!!!!!!!! As you can see, I'm excited. Just thought I'd let you know, cause I know how all of you just Love to keep up with my personal life. No, no, really, it's okay. I understand. Well, that was random lol. It's okay though. Sorry that I was so late updating. My computer was acting up, and then just Friday I was attacked by a huge dog. And it was only a puppy. So I spent the night at the emergency room, and now I can't really bend my head so I am typing while sitting straight up. Have you tried it? It's hard when you're used to slouching. So anyway, the part that you've all been waiting for… drumroll, fanfare, all that big huge stuff. THE STORY!

Who Are You?

Chapter 3 : Tea and Shouting

Hermione woke up bright and early as Roxy was stumbling out of the top bunk (she has loft beds) at ten till seven. So, as Roxy and Mrs. Sena were leaving the house at seven, Hermione was sitting in the living room, trying to find a good show while eating her bowl of Cinnamon Swirls. So naturally, she was surprised when the doorbell rang at ten past seven. She hurriedly put the bowl in the kitchen and went to the door. She saw Draco through the window, and opened the door to let him in. 'Damn him! I'm still in sleep mode', she thought. Meaning that she hadn't brushed her hair or teeth, and she was still in her pajamas.

"Sorry I came over early. Meryl was leaving, and I didn't want her to know just yet."

"Oh. (pause) Well, erm, you can just watch TV or something while I change real quickly.

"Oh, right. No prob."

So, she went upstairs and quickly changed into a pair of white capris and an orange tee that Roxy had sent her that said 'I'll try being nicer when you try being smarter'. She came back down and looked at the clock.

"Um, someone else is coming at eight, and he'll be able to explain certain things more adequately than I could, so we have to wait."

"Oh. Who is it?"

"Professor Dumbledore, our Headmaster. I mentioned him yesterday."

"Oh, right. Why did you send for a teacher?"

"He's more than a teacher. He's, well, it's hard to explain when you don't remember anything. You'll see if he comes."

"If?"

"Well, yeah, it's not like I could just call him up on the telephone. But I'm certain he'll come. I told him in so many words that I'd found you."

"What do you mean in so many words?"

"Well, I told him that I'd caught the Amazing Bouncing Ferret."

"Why would you say that?" he said, clearly offended.

"Well because, it's difficult. Someone obviously made sure that we wouldn't be able to find you. I didn't know who or how, and this way, should anybody get a hold of the letter, they won't know who I'm talking about."

"Oh, well I guess that's ok. But could you please refrain from calling me that in the future?"

"Yeah. So…. who's Meryl?"

"Oh, I woke up in on her front porch. When she realized I couldn't remember anything, she let me stay with her and her family. She's Zach's mom, the one who talked to you yesterday."

"Oh…so…how's it going, living with them?"

"Great. She's tried really hard to make me feel like a real member of the family. I really like it there. Hey, can I ask you a question?"

"I guess. You might not get an answer though."

"Fair enough. See, I've been wondering since yesterday, why is it such a big deal to you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well from the way you were talking to me yesterday, and considering that you flinched when I tried to comfort you, I'm curious, why do you care so much?"

"You noticed that?" Her voice was barely a whisper.

"It was sorta hard to miss." She avoided his eyes.

"Well, it's just… you're Draco Malfoy!"

"So…."

"So you're Draco Malfoy, it's just that. I just – it's hard to explain."

"We do have time."

"How can you be so calm? Dumbledore could arrive any minute, and you're not even acting nervous."

"And now you're changing the subject. Come on, what's so hard about it?"

"Well -- POP – Oh, that must be Professor Dumbledore, he's early. I'll get him."

Hermione quickly left the room, but not before Draco saw a look of relief sweep over her face. He determined to himself that sooner or later, he would get an answer out of her. Meanwhile, Hermione was in the kitchen, trying to tell her Professor what this was all about.

"So, I've heard you've caught a ferret"

"Yes, but there's a problem."

"And what would that be Hermione?"

"Perhaps you'd better see for yourself, sir."

"Lead the way."

She led the way into the living room. Draco jumped right up, hand outstretched.

"Hi. I'm Ry-Draco. I'm Draco."

Dumbledore did not take his hand, but merely glanced at Hermione. At her nod, he spread his arms and said

"Please, let us sit." He took the only single chair, leaving Hermione to sit on the couch with Draco.

"Hermione, I see what you were talking about. We do have quite a situation, don't we? Mr. Malfoy, I am correct in assuming that you have no prior memories to that of December fifth?"

"Yeah. Could I ask, how did you get here? I didn't hear a car."

"I apparated. You are old enough to do it yourself now, but I doubt you've taken the test."

Draco glanced at Hermione, and could see her biting her lip. So naturally, he was busy looking at her lips when Dumbledore politely cleared his throat.

"He's completely different, sir. Like a whole other person - but the same too."

"Why, how so Hermione?"

"Just look at him! Malfoy would never look like that. And yet he does."

"Yes, you do seem to be rather relaxed Draco."

"And sir, what about his memory? I'm certain someone cast the oblivious charm, but who would do that? And why?"

"Woah, what? Charm?" He was looking alert and tense now.

"Yes Draco. I'm afraid I have rather shocking news for you."

"Yes…" he prompted.

"You are a wizard. You attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and you come from a very wealthy family."

He was silent. Looking back and forth between the two of them.

"You're mad! You're both physchotic!!!"

"Draco, I assure you, we are neither. Hermione, could we perhaps have some tea?"

"What? Tea, oh yes of course. I'll go see if they have any."

She left and Draco stared at Dumbledore.

"Tea? You just told me I'm a fucking Wizard, and you want TEA?!?!?!?!"

"Tea's ready" Hermione came out with three cups of steaming tea on a little tray. "They only had raspberry instant something. I hope that's alright."

"Yes, yes it's fine. Now then, I'm sure you want to know more about this."

Draco stared at him again.

"Draco, I regret to inform you that I have no way to help you regain your memories. They will come back naturally, or not at all. Even magic cannot heal some wounds."

"What?!"

"Please, don't shout Draco."

They both turned to look at her.

"I CAN SHOUT IF I WANT! YOU HAVE YOUR MEMORIES! YOU DON'T HAVE A BIG, GAPING, HOLE FOR THE FIRST 16 YEARS OF YOUR LIFE! AND THEN I HAVE THIS FOOL, TELLING ME I'M A WIZARD. I THINK I'LL YELL!!!!!"

"Because, you are a wizard, stupid! And that's right. I have all my memories. All my memories of you, sneering at me, calling me a mudblood, always treating me like dirt! Yes, I'm sooo happy to have all those wonderful memories!" Hermione was slowly inching closer to him, and he was looking for a way to escape. "God, I should have just left it alone! I should have let you live the rest of your life with the muggles you so despised! Have absolutely no chance of regaining your memories! The perfect revenge for years of hatred! But I just couldn't leave well enough alone! Had to try to give you your life back, even though it would mean Hell for me! Yes, I'm so sorry I didn't want you to SHOUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

She was about six inches from his face, and Dumbledore was calmly looking on. He didn't answer. She let out a low growl and spun around, fighting the urge to spit on him. Hermione marched past Dumbledore, and could be heard stomping up the stairs, and Draco flinched when she slammed the door of Roxy's room. There was a moment of silence.

"Well, that went rather well. Don't you think so?"

Draco once again found himself staring incredulously at the man he now firmly believed was clinically insane.

Well, that's chapter 3. Hope you enjoyed it. If not, your loss. Well, I have laundry to do, so I shall be taking my leave. I'll be updating soon!

Vamoose! BAM! SwooshSwift! $arah


	4. The Favor

Who Are You?

Chapter 4 : The Favor

Hermione turned up the CD player as loud as it could go and started pacing, talking to herself. It was about an hour and a half later when she heard knocking. She chose to ignore it. After about five more minutes, she turned the music down slightly to a reasonable volume, and picked up one of Roxy's books. When she was through reading The Night I Disappeared, she turned the music off completely and lay down. Ten minutes later someone knocked again. She went to the door, and took several deep breaths. When she opened the door, however, no one was there. Hermione was about to go back into the room when her stomach growled. She glanced at a clock on the wall and saw it was around 11:30 a.m. Just about lunchtime, no wonder she was hungry. Hermione decided to go downstairs and have lunch. So she closed the door behind her and went to the kitchen. You could imagine her surprise when she saw her beloved headmaster rooting through the fridge, and Draco calmly sitting at the table with a dazed look on his face. So, in excellent Umbridge fashion, she cleared her throat. Draco immediately snapped his head in her direction, and then refused to look her in the eye.

"Ah, Hermione, so good of you to come down. I was just searching for lunch, but alas, I must admit I'm rather lost." With his eyes twinkling, she sighed.

"Is macaroni and cheese okay with some sausage and broccoli?"

"Yes, that would be delightful, thank you. I'm sure Draco could help you some."

"No, no – that's quite alright. You can sit down."

Hermione set about the kitchen, getting a box of Kraft out of the cupboard, finding some sausage in the fridge, and some broccoli in the freezer. Everything was ready by noon, and she set the table. Once she had gotten some pop out of the fridge, she sat down with a sigh.

"Thank you very much Hermione, it looks simply wonderful. Please, be the first to serve yourself."

"Thank you, Professor."

With that the meal began, and was silent except for the scraping of silverware and sounds of chewing. Finally everyone was done, and the food had all been eaten. Hermione stood up to clear the table, but Draco jumped up, taking the plate from her.

"Please, let me. You made lunch."

Hermione looked dumbstruck, and slowly sat back down. So, with Dumbledore chuckling and Draco clearing the table, Hermione was at a loss. Five minutes later, they found themselves in the living room once again.

"Hermione, did you happen to bring along your school books?"

"Well, yes of course. I'm staying the whole summer, well, until August anyway, but you knew that."

"Could you bring them down so Draco can take a look at them?"

"Well…yes…I suppose." She said rather reluctantly, looking at him. After all, it was her school stuff.

There was silence while she was gone, and Draco was surprised to find she had to make two trips for all of it. So he started sifting through it all on the coffee table, Hermione watching on anxiously.

"Those are the books, notes, and all the assignments that were handed back. Please, try to keep them in order."

"Yeah, sure. No prob."

"Hermione, could I speak to you in private?"

"Sure, we'll go in the den. Again, keep everything in order."

With that last comment, she left her precious schoolwork with her sort of ex-enemy. They got there and sat down.

"Hermione, I have a favor to ask of you."

"Yes?" Hoping against hope he wouldn't say what she thought he was going to say.

"Would you be able to set aside your differences with Draco and help him this summer?"

"What? Professor, I'm sorry, but I just can't forget all he's done to me. He's still Malfoy."

"Normally you are right, Hermione, but not this time. The person we both knew at Hogwarts is not the same person who is currently sitting in the other room. From what he's said, all the influences he's had here are wonderful. I firmly believe that he regrets ever being so cruel to you, even though he can't remember it, and to be honest I think he's rather taken with you. You must understand Hermione, he is different. Granted, he may look and sound the same, maybe even walk the same, but he is not Draco Malfoy."

Hermione knew it was a losing battle, but she would not give up yet.

"Professor, how could I help him? I'm not even allowed to do magic."

"Talk to him. Get to know him. He'll need a friend when he comes back to Hogwarts."

"What? He's coming back to Hogwarts? But Professor, if what you just said was true, how can you expect him to go back to the Slytherins? They'll eat him alive."

"I had no intention of doing so. I think a few spells should change him up a bit, and I do believe this will be the first time my dear old hat will have to sort someone twice."

"You're going to re-sort him? And change his looks?"

"Yes, that is the plan. Hermione, please reconsider."

"But what about Grimwald place? I'll be going there, and…"

"I was thinking he would accompany you, and get reacquainted with some friends of ours. I don't think we should tell very many people until we know why someone tried to erase him from his life, but not kill him. I find that very interesting."

"Yes, I too. But…well all right. I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you Hermione."

There was something different in his eyes. Hermione couldn't figure it out, but she got the feeling he knew something that she didn't. And she didn't particularly like it. They both went into the living room again, where Draco had questions ready and waiting. Hermione sighed, and thought to herself 'This sure is going to be a challenging summer, spending all that time with Malfoy.'

Then again, Hermione always did love a good challenge.

See, what'd I tell you? I updated, and rather quickly too. Well, I'm off to target to see if I can find a large hat to cover my wounds. I wonder if school will let me wear a hat? Oh well, I'll certainly be asking. It looks horrible. Anyways, hope you like it so far, and I already have the next two chapters written, I just have to type them up. So, I'll be seeing you later. Bye!

Vamoose! BAM! SwooshSwift! $arah

Oh, I almost forgot. If any of you want to read 'The Night I Disappeared' it's by Julie Reece Deaver. Here's the passage on the back:

Something scary is happening to 17-year-old Jamie Tessman. Ever since she and her mother arrived in Chicago, she's been plagued by freaky mind-slips and vivid daydreams about her sort-of boyfriend, Webb. When Jamie's inner world starts taking her hostage and keeping her imprisoned for longer periods of time, she becomes terrified that she is slowly losing her mind.

Jamie's mom doesn't seem to notice anything is wrong. No one does – until Jamie meets Morgan, a new friend who's had her own "brush with nuttiness." When Jamie disappears into her inner world one night and can't find her way out, Morgan sees to it that Jamie finally gets help. Morgan's aunt, a psychiatrist, breaks through Jamie's paralyzing fear and helps her unravel a tangle of long-forgotten, horrifying secrets in her past.

Doesn't that just sound fascinating? I thought so. It's one of my favorite books. Ok, this is really the end now. Bye!!


	5. The Invitation and The Sketch

Who Are You?

Chapter 5 : The Invitation and The Sketch

One week had gone by and Draco was sucking everything up. He had read through her books numerous times, and was starting to remember the lessons of previous years. Eventually, he had told his "family" that he would be spending a lot of time with Hermione, and that he would be leaving with her at the end of July. They, of course, were not happy with this, but understood. Right now, however, he was daydreaming while Hermione was talking about lunch. He suddenly snapped out of it, and interrupted her.

"Would you have dinner with me on Friday?"

"What?" Hermione was confused and surprised, but tried her hardest to hide it.

"I mean, have dinner at my house, with my family and everything. Meryl and Tom really want to meet you."

"Oh, um, yeah I guess. I'll have to check with Mrs. Sena, but I'm sure it'll be fine."

Hermione was greatly confused. She almost felt……disappointed. She shook her head. No, it was something else. Maybe she was coming down with something.

"Alright, well let me know tomorrow, cause Meryl's sorta twitchy about it, ya know?"

"Yeah, parents tend to get that way."

"Do you miss your parents? It must be hard, not being able to see them."

"Oh well, sometimes I do. I used to miss them all the time, but then…I got older, and sorta changed I guess. My parents didn't, and we sorta fought a lot of the time. Now, we don't see each other that much, so when we are together, we all try our hardest not to fight."

"That makes sense. It'll just be so weird, ya know, when I don't see them all everyday."

"Well, there are lots of things to do at Grimwald place. Not all of them are fun, but there's always an opportunity to spy on someone, or some conversation. It's going to be so weird, introducing you to Harry and Ron."

"I wonder how they'll react?"

"Well, first it will be shock, then it will be confusion, then anger, then confusion again, and after all that, it'll take them quite awhile to actually trust you."

"Oh, well that's a piece of cake, why didn't you say so?" He said sarcastically, making Hermione laugh. Then he started laughing, and they ended up spending the rest of lunch bursting into laughter every time they glanced at each other.

It was Friday, and Hermione was a bunch of nerves. Roxy had helped her pick out a knee-length khaki skirt, with an army green tee, and black flip-flops. Half her hair was in a ponytail, and the other half was tumbling down her back. She had minimal make-up on (one thing she would not budge on).

"Are you sure this is enough? I don't want to be underdressed."

"Hermione, it'll be fine. You British people need to chill out. Relax! You're in America, not the UK. You look great."

"Alright, if you say so. However, if you're wrong, I will make you pay." She fake glared at Roxy.

"Yeah, yeah. Just leave already. You have to make a good impression, and tell me everything. His parents just have to like you."

"Why? We're just friends, and they aren't even his real parents."

"Whatever. Just go, and have fun!"

"Bye."

Five minutes later Mrs. Sena pulled up in front of his house, said a few soothing words, and then almost had to push her out of the car. Hermione went to the door, looked down at herself, smoothed her hair (which was semi-straight), and proceeded to knock on the door.

"Oooh, I'll get it! I'll get it!" She heard through the door, and sure enough, the door opened and Hermione was greeted with a little girl, who had white-blonde hair and brown eyes. Hermione smiled at her, and guessed she was about six.

"Hi."

"Hey! What's your name? Are you Hermione? Guess what? I think Ryan likes you. He talks about you all the time. Oh, and I'm Cecelia."

"Wow. Yes, I am Hermione, and it's nice to meet you Cecelia."

"Ok, good. Come in, come in!"

Just then, Draco came down the stairs.

"Oh, hey. I thought that might be you. I see you've met Cecelia."

"Yes, and apparently, you have "like" me. Why didn't you tell me? Cecelia had to tell me." She was grinning. Draco now looked quite pale, and nervous.

"Cecelia! Not true Hermione. Just as a friend, really. Cecelia just has all these crazy ideas, none of them true."

"That's not true! Hermione, he's lying. He told me. Ryan you liar!"

"Whatever." He rolled his eyes, and Hermione fought back a laugh.

"Fine, be that way. Hermione, do you want to play? I have lots of dolls and Barbies, and a lot of fun stuff!"

"Now, CeCe that wouldn't be any fair." Hermione looked to the doorway of the kitchen. Standing there was a middle-aged woman with blonde hair and green eyes. She stepped forward a bit.

"Hello, dear. I'm Meryl, so nice to meet you."

"A pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Meryl. Draco's told me so much about you."

"Draco?"

"Oh, right. Sorry, I mean Ryan."

"Oh, is that his real name? He wouldn't tell any of us. We've heard a lot about you too." She grinned ruefully at Draco. "Now, you wouldn't mind if I stole him for a bit, would you? Maybe Cecelia could give you a tour. Dinner will be ready shortly."

"No, I wouldn't mind at all. Lead the way, Cecelia."

So Cecelia giggled happily, and began her tour. She led Hermione through the living room. (proudly showing her collection of Disney movies), then upstairs. They got to her lilac-colored room (the most important room in the house), and while Cecelia was busy rooting through her closet, Hermione couldn't help but wonder if Draco had his own room. So she decided to ask Cecelia.

"Cecelia, does Dr-I mean Ryan have his own room?"

"Yeah. Oh, I almost forgot. I found Ryan's secret! I have to show you. Come on, hurry!"

Cecelia grabbed her hand and quickly left the room. She led Hermione into a dark green room, which had a desk, bed, and dresser, all in a dark wood. There were posters all over the place, and she spotted quite a few concert passes. She didn't have much time to look around though, as Cecelia dragged her to the bed and made her sit with her eyes closed. Hermione could hear her moving about, and then felt a notebook slip into her lap. She opened her eyes and saw Cecelia smiling at her. She made the quiet sign with her finger, and then opened the notebook. Hermione gasped. It was not a notebook, but a sketchbook.

"These are beautiful. Cecelia, does Ryan draw these?" She whispered.

"Yeah. Look, this one is of you. You look really mad in this one, too. And in this one, you look really sad."

"Cecelia, are you sure Ryan drew these. All these pictures of me?" Her voice was slightly shaking.

"Yes. He showed me. Don't you like them? I think they are pretty."

"Yes, they are very pretty. Can I look through the rest of it?"

"I guess, but it's boring."

"It's okay. I won't take long."

Hermione quickly skimmed through the book. Halfway through the book, she found a close up of her face, drawn with incredible detail. She saw her eyes, and shuttered. It was if he had memorized her face. She traced the outline of her face, and then saw something written by the bottom left corner.

' "Who are you?" 1/19 '

She just stared at it for a moment. January? JANUARY?! He drew her face in January! She quickly flipped through, finding more sketches of herself. They all looked mad. The eyes were always the same – Full of Hatred. Hermione came to the last page. She was smiling. The only picture where she was smiling. She quickly grew mad. Cecelia noticed this.

"What's wrong Hermione?"

"Ryan lied to me too, Cecelia. He lied about a very big thing."

"Are you mad at him? Like I was?"

"Yes, I need to talk to him."

"Oooh, are you gonna yell? Come on, come on! Let's go!"

Hermione, still holding the book, allowed Cecelia to lead her down the stairs. Draco was just coming out of the kitchen.

"Oh, hey. I was about to come and get you."

"Ooooooh, she's mad at you!!" Squealed Cecelia. Just then Zach walked into the room.

"Oh, hey, guys. When did you get here Hermione?"

"Oh, not to long ago." She nodded pleasantly at him, then turned to Draco.

"How dare you? How dare you lie to me?!"

"What are you talking about?"

She threw the sketchbook at him.

"That's what I'm talking about! You told me you couldn't remember anything! The date is the 19th! Of January! JANUARY! You remember me – and you didn't tell me! God, how stupid of me to believe you!"

"What? No, listen, you don't understand!"

"Understand what, Draco? That you lied to me? That you do remember? I was stupid to think you would ever change! You'll always be the same Draco Malfoy – son of a Deatheater, and an evil bastard!"

"Hermione please." He reached out to touch her, but she dodged away.

"It's Granger to you Malfoy! And don't you even think about touching me. I never want to see you again!"

Hermione was fighting back tears now. 'How could he do this to me? I thought he changed'

A boom of thunder resounded, but Hermione didn't hear it.

"Never again, Malfoy."

With that, she left the whole room stunned. Draco seemed incapable of moving, and Hermione ran out of the house. She kept running, oblivious to the thunder and lightning. Just as she reached the park, it started to rain. Hurt, confused, and now wet, Hermione collapsed to the ground, letting her tears flow.

Meanwhile, Draco was in a state of panic. It had started to rain shortly after she left, and then the power went out. That's when he snapped out of it, and grabbed his coat. He ran out the door after her, and proceeded to look around the small town. He didn't notice the rain, or how cold he had become. One object was on his mind. So, when he saw her, sitting in the rain in the middle of the park, he ran straight to her. She heard him coming, and stood up.

"Go away, Malfoy!"

"Hermione, please, let me explain!"

"No. I don't want to hear your lies. Leave me alone." She started to walk away, but stopped short when he murmured something indecipherable, and she halted her footsteps.

"What?" Damn her curiosity!

He moved closer to her.

"I wanted to see you smile."

She turned around, and saw he had his hands shoved in his pockets, and his head down low.

"What? But…but why?" His head shot up, as though he was surprised to see her there.

"You never smiled in my dreams. I would dream about you all the time. I just couldn't remember who you were. You were always so mad, I never saw you smile. I could never picture what it looked like. It consumed me. I could think of nothing except that. You consumed Hermione. When I saw you, I couldn't just tell you I'd been having dreams about you. I mean, come on, how would that sound? I just had to see you smile. It lights your whole face up, and it's so much better than when you're glaring at me. I mean, do you have any idea how scary you look when you're mad?"

He had slowly moved towards her, and now he was less than a foot away from her. He could see she was arguing with herself about what to say. Ever so slowly, he moved his hand up to her face, wiping away the rain and tears from her cheek with his thumb. Her eyes snapped to his.

"Draco…"

"Please, just let me make you smile."

She leaned into his palm, and he touched his forehead to hers. Their eyes still locked together, Draco moved his other arm to wrap around he petite waist, moving his body closer to hers. It was because of this, that he could feel her trembling.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I'm fine, just dandy."

They both grinned at each other, and Draco was just about to kiss her, when –

"RYAN! What the HELL were you THINKING?! Come on, man – the car is stuck in the garage!"

Zach had come running after Draco, and interrupted them. Draco and Hermione both backed away from each other a bit.

"But, Draco, if the car in stuck in the garage, how I am supposed to get home?"

He just smiled wickedly and then turned around to yell back to Zach. Hermione's eyes widened as she realized what was going to happen. If Mrs. Sena's car was also stuck in the garage, she would have to spend the night at his house.

Well………what do you think? Let me know. I don't have anything witty or random to say, so I'll just go. See you later.

Vamoose! BAM! SwooshSwift! $arah


	6. Night simple, yet unexplainable

Hilo! The only thing I want to say is to Write-or-Wrong. Yes, eventually he will. But who's to know when?

Who Are You?

Chapter 6 : Night (simple, yet enexplainable)

When they made it back to the house, (Hermione and Draco walking a little farther apart) they found Tom had been dropped off by his carpool person. He was very pleased to meet Hermione, and while Meryl got some clothes for her to borrow, Tom and the boys went to the basement to find some candles. They had just come upstairs when Hermione came downstairs, clad in a long skirt (held up by a belt) and a large sweater.

"Ryan, Zach, go change into some dry clothes and put those in the dryer with Hermione's."

"Kay, mom. Come on Ryan." Hermione could hear him muttering to Draco about how stupid he was.

"Now then, Hermione would you like to call Mrs. Sena?"

"I thought the power was out."

"Oh, we have cell phone that still works dear, do you know the number?"

"Oh, yes. Thank you."

She dialed the number, and discovered it was dead. She was about to tell Meryl, when Zach handed her a small piece of paper. She saw Roxy's name and a cell phone number.

"Now, why in the world would you have this?"

"NO reason. Just call her."

Hermione silently smiled to herself, and dialed the number.

"Hello?"

"Hi. Roxy, it's me, Hermione. I'm over at Draco's house and – "

"Oh, do they like you?"

"Look, that's really not the issue – "

"But do they? It's important that – "

"Roxy! Yes, fine, they like me. Now, about the whole thunderstorm issue. Is your power out too?"

"Yes. Is yours?"

"Yes, and the car is in the garage, so they won't be able to drop me off. Is your car in the stuck in the garage, or would you be able to come and get me?"

"Yep, it's in the garage. How very unlucky of you. It looks as if you'll have to spend the night. Oh, what a bummer."

"Oh, please. Like you're not enjoying this. Don't even try to lie. Is your mum there?"

"Yes, but I don't really think she's able to talk right now." Hermione could hear her smiling through the phone.

"Roxy, don't you dare lie. Give the phone to your mum!"

"Oh, dear, there's a beep. Looks like I have to leave. See ya later!"

"No, Roxy, don't hang – " Hermione never finished her sentence because Roxy did, in fact, hang up. She turned around to face Meryl.

"Well, Roxy says their car is stuck in the garage too, and apparently Mrs. Sena was unavailable. I hope you don't mind."

"No, no it's fine dear. I'm sure I have a pair of pajamas you could fit in, though you're small. How old are you?"

"Oh, I'll be turning 17 in September."

"My goodness, 17! Speaking of birthdays, do you know when Ryan's is? I've been wondering for such a long time."

"Um, no I don't, I'm sorry. But I could find out for you."

"Would you dear, that would be wonderful."

"It would be my pleasure. I'll just have to write a letter."

"Yay! Then we can have a birthday party! Ooooh, what do you want Ryan?" cried Cecelia

"Ummm…"

"Oh, come on Cecelia, can you help me in the kitchen?"

"With what? Ask Zach or Ryan, I wanna play with Hermione." She whined.

"Now, now, Hermione is Ryan's friend, so come on. I'll call you for dinner in a minute."

With that, she left the three teenagers in the living room. Hermione and Draco just sort of stood there for a moment until Zach noticed they were unsure and suggested they just watch TV until dinnertime.

So, five minutes later when Meryl walked into the room, they were all sitting on the couch watching some guy named Dat Phan on Comedy Central. (A/N Dat Phan really is funny! Just HILARIOUS!) Soon they were all sitting around the table, enjoying the wonderful dinner that Meryl made. Hermione was next to Draco, with Zach and Cecelia sitting across from them, and the two grown-ups at the ends. Dinner was halfway through when Tom asked Hermione about school.

"Oh, I go to the same school as Draco, Hogwarts School of – " She was cut off, as Draco's hand was now covering her mouth. She made to remove it, while Meryl was scolding Draco for his rude behavior. However, before she could really do anything, he leaned in close and whispered,

"They don't know. I haven't told them." Hermione fought back the thought of how it sent shivers down her spine when his lips accidentally brushed against her ear. Finding she could not, she shook her head, trying to rid herself of the horribly misinformed thought. Hermione removed her hand, and whispered back.

"And why not? You've only had two weeks!"

"I was afraid, they're the only family I've ever known." She sighed, glanced at Tom and Meryl (who was quiet now), and stood up.

"If you will please excuse me, Draco has something he needs to discuss with you as a family. I'm quite full, Draco, I will be waiting in your room, as we need to talk as well." She shot him a small glare, and left the room, leaving everyone to stare at Draco.

Meanwhile, Hermione stopped off to see if her clothes had dried and as they were, she changed into them, leaving Meryl's clothes on her bed. She walked back into Draco's room and commenced looking around. Moving back to the concert passes, she found many of them were Good Charlotte, Simple Plan, Green Day, and one or two of Linkin Park. Glancing about, she realized he had many of those same CD's. She moved over to his dresser to discover many notes, paperclips, and what looked to be a couple of math pages. She picked it up and noticed a '59' written in big red letters. Suddenly she heard a small laugh from behind and spun around with a guilty look on her face.

"As you can see, I'm not the best at math."

She softly laughed and said, "Yeah, I've gathered that." He walked further into the room and sat on his bed.

"So you've told them?"

"Yeah."

"Well? How did they take it?"

"Tom is still in shock, Zach and Cecelia are thrilled, and Meryl left. I don't know what she could possibly think."

"Draco, look, I know it's hard, but it had to be done. You couldn't go your whole life pretending around them, and they do seem to really love you." She tried to make him feel better about it, but knew it was futile.

"Yeah I know. It's just…" There was a knock at the door.

"Come in." The door opened and Meryl was standing there. Hermione looked between the two of them, and decided to make a quick exit.

"Umm, I'll just be going."

"No, no dear stay, you're a part of this. Please, sit down." Hermione swallowed nervously and sat next to Draco on the bed.

"Now, Ryan first off, I want you to know that this changes nothing for the way I feel about you. I still love you very much, okay? (She continued at his nod and laughed nervously) Now I see why you were so adamant about going back to England for that school."

"Yeah."

"So, I take it that you're a witch, Hermione?"

"Umm, yes. If you have any questions at all, please, just ask. I'll answer as best I can. I know it must be a bit of a shock, I remember when my parents found out."

"I just have two questions. Is it possible that Tom and I meet this Professor Dumbledore?"

"Oh, yes of course. As soon as I get home I'll call Harry and have him send a letter."

"Could you call him on a cell phone?"

"I suppose." Meryl handed Hermione her cell phone. "Are you sure, it'll be quite expensive." At her nod, she dialed the number and waited.

"Hello, may I talk to Harry, please?" She was quiet for a moment. "This is Hermione Granger, look it'll be just a moment. Do I really have to call _someone _else?" She said with a hard edge to her voice. "Harry's muggle relatives don't like him, they're actually rather nasty to him." She said by way of explanation.

"Harry, yeah, hey. Listen could you do me a favor? Yes, thank you. I need you to write Dumbledore and ask him to apparate to 12134 Franklin road. No, doesn't matter what time it is…yes he'll know where it is…umm, just tell him it has to do with Ryan. Ok? Thanks a lot Harry, you have no idea what this means to me." She hung up and handed the phone back to Meryl. "Dumbledore will come if he can. What was the other question you wanted to ask?"

"Well you see, I heard about your argument with Ryan, and I was wondering, what is a 'deatheater'?"

DUN DUN DUN! Oh, what now? Hmmm… do you think I should end it here? Leave a cliffy for ya? I don't know. (Jeopardy theme song) All right, I guess I'll go on, I was just messin with ya. Well, here you go-

"What?"

"A deatheater. I'm going to assume that it's bad since you called him an evil bastard right afterward." She was smiling and Hermione was slowly going pale. She certainly didn't want to do this.

"You heard all of it? Was I really that loud?"

"Oh, yes. You sounded very angry."

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize. It's just, well, Draco and I have a history together."

"Oh, how sweet!"

"No, no, not like that. We hated each other, we were bitter enemies."

"I see. And yet…here you are, helping him, tutoring him."

"Well, it's difficult." She said, hoping they would drop the subject. Draco smirked.

"Well we do have time, Hermione." She sent him a little glare, and Meryl spoke up.

"We are getting off subject. Hermione?"

"Well, maybe Draco would feel more comfortable explaining." She said, glancing at him.

"I can't. Don't know anything about it."

"What?" Hermione looked aghast.

"Dumbledore never said anything about it. Not once."

"He didn't?" She was shocked, and it came out rather weakly. This meant she had no choice but to tell them herself. And, as we already stated, she did not want to do that.

"Well, umm.. There's this guy, Voldemort. He's a really dark, evil wizard. And he has this terrifyingly absurd idea. He wants to get rid of all the muggle-borns and half-bloods, like Hitler with the Jewish people. And he has these followers, called Deatheaters. They have the Dark Mark – a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth – inside their left forearm. I called Draco this, because before he disappeared from Hogwarts, that was the path that he was going down."

Silence reigned in the room. For about 15 seconds.

"Ryan, following this madman you're talking about?"

"Well, there are other factors."

"Like what? God, I really was an _evil_ bastard." Draco looked thoroughly disgusted with himself.

"Look, in primary school we learn that our personalities are shaped from three different factors. Our parents, our peers, and our environment. Your father, Lucius, is a Deatheater. (Seeing Draco's worried look, she quickly added the bit about him being in jail) With those beliefs, I'm sure you were raised to believe it too. Your environment was probably cold and uninviting. And then you were put into Slytherin, with other children like you. I'm not saying that you're blameless Draco, far from it, but haven't you ever heard the phrase "I blame my parents"? And besides, for whatever reason, you were given a second chance."

"I see. Well, I'll let you two talk."

"What about this dude, Lucius? He's a Deatheater!"

"What about it? As far as I'm concerned, he doesn't matter. You are who you are, and you are not him. I love you, and not even your blood could change that." She hugged him and left the room, shutting the door behind her. Leaving the two of them in his room, sitting on the bed, with only candles for light. Alone.

What will happen next! Who knows? I don't. Any suggestions? I have the main idea, but I don't know how I'll quite put it together. And sorry it took me so long to update, I've not been having a good week. Hopefully it'll be getting better though. Did you know we have four inches of snow in the morning, and the stupid Swanton School District didn't cancel! Can you believe that! I couldn't, until my mother came into the room to wake me up every five minutes. Very annoying. Have a nice day!Vamoose!BAM!ShwooshSwift arah


	7. Middle of the Night

** Hello! How have you all been, then? Good I hope. From now on, I will be writing my author's notes in bold, due to a request that was made. So I hope you appreciate it. I must say, I HATE VIRUSES! They suck! My computer has been absolutely screwy lately. Like I said, Viruses suck! Ya know what else sucks? Well, I'll tell you. Every time I write a story, it seems to be an invitation for new story ideas. And, if you write, you know how you just want to stop and begin to write that one, even if you're in the middle of another one. Even though the temptation is great, I shall resist and continue on with this story until I am finished. So, enough talking, on to the story. I shall see you at the end of the chapter!**

Chapter 7 : Middle of the Night

After an awkward start, they began to talk about school. It was a safe subject for both of them, seeing as it didn't involve anything personal. Soon though, Hermione found herself telling of the adventures she had gotten into with Harry and Ron.

"So, anything exciting happen during third year?"

"Hmm…oh no, nothing interesting. Now, in fifth year-"

"You're lying! Come on; tell me what happened in third and fourth year. Please?" He made his bottom lip pout out, and made puppy eyes at her. She laughed, and said

"I don't really think you'll like what I have to say about you in third year." She gently warned him.

"That's okay. Just tell me."

"Oh, fine, but you can't get upset about anything I say, okay?"

"Yes, yes, fine, get on with it!" He said, eager to hear it.

"Ok, here goes. It really started with Buckbeak. Hagrid brought him to class one day, and they really are quite nice, but very proud too, and I thought it was a bit much even though I didn't say anything. Harry and Ron get really upset about that kind of stuff. So anyways, Harry had just gotten back from riding him, and I don't know, maybe you were mad he was getting a lot of attention for it, but you just strode right up to Buckbeak, didn't bow, and insulted him. And, being a very proud Hippogriff, he started to attack you. I was so – I mean, everybody was worried about you, but his talon just got your left arm a bit. Madame Pomfrey fixed it right up, but you really took it way out of proportion, was really a big baby about it. So, you complained to your father, who's on the school's governing board, and they had a trial, finally deciding to put him to death. I was so mad at you, cause it really was your fault, if you had just listened to what he was saying. The night that Buckbeak was supposed to be executed, Harry, Ron, and I were on our way to Hagrid's hut, to comfort him and all, when we found you with Goyle and Crabbe, trying to get a picture. I slapped you that night. It felt really good, you have no idea. Harry and Ron were shocked of course, and I do believe you were as well. I don't think anybody had dared to hit you before. Buckbeak ended up getting away, and now he's safe." Hermione decided to just tell him that, leaving out the part with Sirius, because, after all, she had done it with the time turner.

"Wow. I can't believe you slapped me." He was silent for a moment, taking it all in.

"Look, I know I sound really mean, but you were really hurtful back then, especially to me. I'd never hit someone like-" He cut her off with an exclamation.

"AHA! That's why I don't like anybody to touch my face. That must be it, on some level I must remember that slap."

"What?" She said, absolutely baffled.

"I don't like people to touch my face. Like ever. Just last month, I was over at a friend's house – we were playing basketball – and I scratched my face. His mom came out, ya know, tried to fix it up, but I wouldn't let her touch my face. I just don't like it. So I figure, on some unconscious level, I remember you slapping me. This is Great!"

She was silent for a moment. Then her face lit up.

"That's right! If you remember it on a subconscious level, then it's more likely you'll remember everything!" At this, her face changed almost imperceptibly, and when she spoke again her voice was slightly different. Of course, Draco noticed. After all, he didn't spend all that time with her staring at her feet. "This is wonderful, Draco. I'm really happy for you."

Draco was about to say something, when he heard Cecelia screaming. They both bolted to the door, Draco first, Hermione following closely at his heels. As they clamored down the stairs, Draco tried not to focus on how close Hermione was. When they reached the landing, they found Cecelia, crying in her mother's lap, and Dumbledore softly apologizing.

"Oh, Professor Dumbledore, hello. Thank you for coming, I'm sorry, I should have specified where to apparate, to avoid this." She was about to go on, but fell silent when he raised his hand.

"It is quite alright, Hermione. I am just sorry to have scared the little one." He smiled sweetly at her, and she ducked into her mother's shoulder. Meryl stood, and excused herself, saying it was time for bed. Tom was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, stunned. Draco went over to him, trying to get his attention. Finally, he just punched him on the arm. Tom snapped out of it, and looked at Draco.

"Ryan, you should have seen it, he just came out of nowhere. I sure wish I could do that."

"Tom, are you alright? Do you want some water?"

"No, no. I'm fine. Can you do that, Ryan? Just POP out of nowhere?"

"Uh, no. Not yet anyway. I plan on learning."

"This is great, you can just POP in here whenever you want to see us!"

"Well, not really. He had to pass his apparition test first, and then you can't apparate straight out of Hogwarts, you have to wait till a Hogsmeade weekend comes up, and then he has to have Professor's permission." After seeing Tom's disappointed look, she quickly added. "But still, that'll be much faster than traveling the muggle way, and he can always come home for Christmas Break."

"Oh, that would be wonderful. But only if you want to, of course." Meryl said from the bottom of the stairs.

"Ah, good evening. I am Professor Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Howgarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Meryl Banks, and this is my husband, Tom. We're so glad you could come on such short notice. Please, have a seat."

"Thank you, it was no trouble at all. I came as soon as I got Hermione's message. I am guessing you have questions."

"Yes. Ryan's just told us of this whole thing tonight, and we were absolutely shocked. The children were excited and awed, and Hermione's told me a little bit about it, but yes, I'm afraid I do have questions about this."

"That is to be expected. Please, ask away."

"Well, I am quite curious about Ryan's family, and about your world in general."

"Draco, or Ryan, is an only child. I am not yet completely sure of why someone has done this to him. His father is currently in Azkaban, a wizarding prison, and his mother is somewhat of a socialite in certain circles. We have concluded that someone has cast the 'oblivious' charm on him, making him lose all memory, though we are not yet sure why this happened. The wizarding world has a government, just like any country. There are three different schools in Europe, Hogwarts included. There are also schools in America, but it is my personal belief that Ryan would do the best at Hogwarts. The familiar sights and sounds might very well help him remember what he now cannot."

"I see. Well, Tom and I have talked, and as much as we would love to keep him here, that is the decision we came to as well. I was wondering, if you knew his birthday? It's been on my mind since he first became a part of the family."

"I do believe its August 17th."

"Oh, it's coming up. We'll have to have a party."

"Right, well, um. Hermione, would you like to come to my room?"

"Oh, um, sure."

"Meryl, we're going upstairs."

"Okay, dear." Meryl and Tom were wrapped up in what Dumbledore was telling them.

Draco and Hermione headed upstairs, and into his room. He sat on his bed, and Hermione decided to sit on his desk chair, as she couldn't get those horribly misinformed thoughts out of her head. Didn't they know that it would never work? Didn't they know who they were? Obviously not, as they wouldn't go away. They sat in silence for a moment, and then Draco surprised her with a question.

"What's your most girlish thing?"

"What? What do you mean?"

"Well, I don't know. You're not very girly, and I find that girls that aren't very girly have like, an obsession with one thing that's very girlish. Makes sense, right?"

"Well, yeah. How would you know that? Are there many girls that aren't very girly at Swanton?"

"Not really. Most of them are preps – very girly – and then there's the goth-punk chics. There's a couple of girls that really like to read, but they're nothing like you. You're completely different from any girl I've ever met."

Hermione didn't know what to say to that. So, she just avoided it altogether.

"Lip gloss."

"What?"

"My girly obsession is lip gloss. I have about five things of it in my bag. Nobody at Hogwarts really notices it, cause they all think I'm not girly enough for it."

"Really? How could they not? Your lips always look good." Did he just say that? Oh my, how would he know, unless he looked at my lips? Maybe he… No, that's impossible. I'll just ignore it. Hermione was silent for a moment, and Draco asked another question.

"What's your favorite flavor?"

"My favorite flavor, hmm… It would have to be… sour apple. I love it. It's sweet, but tangy too, just the right balance."

"Sour apple. Really?"

"Yeah. So, how were you planning on disguising yourself? Dumbledore did tell you able that, right?"

Draco was glad for the change of conversation. When he started talking about that, he had no idea how much it would effect him. Sour apple was his favorite too. For the same reason, in fact. He briefly wondered how it would taste, mixed up with the taste of her own mouth. He quickly dropped the thought when he saw Hermione looking at him expectantly.

"Sorry, what? I zoned out."

"It's okay. I said, how do you plan on disguising yourself, for going back to Hogwarts?"

"Oh, I haven't really given it that much thought. I was thinking of going like, all out gothic. Ya know, all black clothes, black hair, and combat boots. The whole nine yards. I'd leave my eyes the same, cause it'll look really cool, with everything else so dark. What do you think?"

"I think that'd be very interesting to see. And your skin is so pale, I think it would really help with the look. Nobody would think Draco Malfoy would ever do that. You'd have the perfect cover. The only people who'll know who you really are is Harry, Ron, the teachers, and myself. They can all be trusted. I wonder what house you'll be sorted into?"

"Well, what about you? You haven't told me what house you're in."

"I won't tell you until I know what house you're going to be in. I don't want to influence you in any way."

"Come on, that's not fair."

"Yes it is. I'm tired. What time is it?"

"It's… nearly eleven. Why?"

"Nearly eleven? We should get to bed. I have to start getting back into the Hogwarts schedule. Goodnight."

Hermione got up, and walked towards the door. She stopped for a moment when she heard Draco's voice from the bed. By the time she turned around, Draco was very close. Close enough to kiss, in fact. He was just about to lean down, when there was a knock at the door. He stepped back quickly, and a second later, Meryl walked in.

"Hermione, I came to give you a blanket. Your Professor left a little while ago, but he left a note. I left it on the couch."

"Oh, thank you. I was just coming down. Goodnight, Draco." Meryl left, and Hermione went after her, looking back at the door, with a slight blush over her cheeks. She nodded, and then closed the door behind her. Draco stared at the door. She had blushed, which meant she was flattered, right? Which meant she liked him, right? Right. Draco sighed, he sure hoped so. He got ready for bed, and didn't fall asleep for another few hours. It was a long night for both of them.

**Well? Do you absolutely hate me now? I hope not. I just have this perfect vision of their first kiss, but I felt the need for a little bit of something. Well, the next chapter is gonna be fun to write, it's gonna be a real party, ya know? Pretty soon, they'll be going back to England, and we'll find out why Draco ended up loosing his memory. Ohh, I can't wait! I'll get to work on the next chapter as soon as my hands recover from all this typing.**

** Swift! BAM! Vamoose! arah**


	8. Going Away and Randomness

**Well, hello again! How are you all? Well I hope. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my reviewers. I don't want you all to think it doesn't matter to me, because it does. You have no idea how much it means to me, really. I would also like to say that I just got three new rings, which are absolutely gorgeous! And I am super-de-duper excited about it! (Just to let you all know, I'm a ring-aholic. I just love them!) So, back to the story. This is the last chapter where they will be in America and there will be randomness. Oh, yes, I have two more things to say. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JACKIE! HAPPY BIRTH DAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTH DAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTH DAY DEAR JACKIE, HAPPY BIRTH DAY TO YOU! La La La. The last thing is that I hate the updating stuff on I completely forgot that it could take up to 24 hours to upload, so please forgive me. Here it is**

Chapter 8 : Going Away and Randomness

Over the next week, Hermione and Draco barely spent any time alone. Now that the rest of the family knew about it, they insisted that Hermione come to their house, so they could spend as much time together before he left as possible. He was sad that he was to be leaving them all, but he was also annoyed, because he was always one to value his privacy. And now he felt he had none whatsoever. The week passed quickly, and soon the night of the party was approaching. Word had spread fast that Ryan would be going home, and so they planned a huge going-away party/birthday party for him. It was held at the park, and everyone was invited. Meryl had arranged for a smaller pool party for just his close friends, that was to be held after the other party was over.

The large party went rather well, and almost everybody enjoyed himself or herself. There were however, a few girls who were very upset he was leaving, and they tried to say a 'private' goodbye, but he would always find an excuse. He only had his sights on one girl. She was currently talking to Billy Bob Joe, a rather weird person, but also happened to be his best friend. He was looking bored as he always does, even though Hermione was laughing like mad. Draco made his way over to them, and waited for Hermione to notice him. Billy Bob Joe noticed first and suddenly said quite loudly,

"Oh, no! Ryan, watch out! YOU'RE SAFE! Run from safety!"

"No, not safety! Quick, hide me!" They both burst out laughing, and Hermione looked at them weirdly, waiting for an explanation. Draco didn't disappoint her.

"It's just this thing. Billy Bob Joe made it up awhile ago, and it pointless really, but still fun."

"Oh, I see. Any more pointless but fun phrases?"

"Billy Bob Joe?"

"You stupid Mofo of a homo, you don't just say them."

"I'm so sorry Great Lord Fuzzy, please, forgive me." He made a pouty look on his face.

"How many times do I have to tell you, I am not Dark Lord Fuzzy. THIS is Dark Lord Fuzzy." He pulled out a little paper thing, folded to look like something, but Hermione couldn't figure out what.

"Oh, yes. I forgot, you are just one of his minion fudgsicle legions. Please, do not douse me in fudge." Draco barely contained his laughter, and just wasn't able to when Hermione burst out with laughter.

"You are the oddest, laziest, funniest guy I've ever met. Draco why didn't you introduce me before, we could have had so much fun."

"He wanted to keep you all to himself. He's really selfish, but then again, so am I, so I won't say anything. Besides the fact that he wants ravage you – "

"DUDE! What the hell? Not cool. He's just joking, Hermione. Really."

But Hermione didn't hear, because she was doubled over in laughter. Her face was red, and she looked about ready to fall over.

The rest of the night went rather smoothly, until it was near the end when Billy Bob Joe, who was across the room, yelled out at the top of his lungs.

"DUDE! I'LL SEE YOU LATER FOR THE PARTY! AIR HIGH FIVE!"

Draco, shaking his head at him, raised his hand in high five fashion, but only hit air. That was what was supposed to happen, after all. Billy Bob Joe had come up with the idea after he got a detention for walking across the classroom to give Draco a high five, right in the middle of the teacher's rendition of some stupid poem he didn't care about. But he did care about detention cutting into his video-game playing time. And thus, the Air-High-Five was born. There was also the Finger-Five, but that is another story.

Now, as Draco lay in bed, he began to wonder if he was indeed cursed. First his memory loss, and now three times he had tried to kiss her, and failed. He knew that she would never make a move, but that was part of what he liked about her. She was traditional, yet not afraid to try new things. And as he tried to sleep, he concentrated all the things that he loved about her, instead of the way he always managed to goof things up when around her.

Meanwhile, Hermione sat in bed, listening to Roxy go on and on about the party and how she had been such a flirt with Zach. But in the end, it paid off, cause he had asked her out, so she was on cloud nine. Stuck in her own thoughts that she was cursed, she didn't hear Roxy's question, and therefore, could not give an answer.

"I said, what's going on with you and Ryan?"

"Well, I'm not quite sure. I mean, he's tried to kiss me three times already, and yet we haven't kissed. Maybe it's a sign. Maybe we're just not meant to be." She sighed.

"Nonsense, fate didn't bring you here while he was here without a memory for no reason. And besides, they say the more you work for it, the better it is. I've never believed that as I'm incredibly lazy, but it applies here, so it's true. Just with you guys though, not like, work or anything."

"Oh, of course it wouldn't apply to WORK. Well, maybe. I don't know. I just don't know and it's killing me. We leave in two days, and when we get home, we'll have almost no privacy, I'm almost certain. It's just so bothersome. But at least Zach finally asked you out. I think he's liked you for a while, seeing that he had your cell number. I'm glad one of us is happy."

"Just try not to think about it, okay. Go pick out a book. I know you most of them are below your 'level' but it could still help. Everybody needs a fantasy world to escape to."

With that, she yawned, signaling the end of the conversation. She turned off the big light, but left the little one on for Hermione to read by. 'You don't know the half of it' was Hermione's last thought.

They were on the plane, waiting to take off. Draco had all his CD's and Discman in his carry on with a couple of magazines, while Hermione had books that she had bought in Toledo, a notebook, and a bunch of writing utensils. Nobody knew, but Hermione was quite the writer, and it was a long flight. You never know when inspiration is going to hit you. Sitting in a comfortable silence, they didn't feel the need to break it. Hours later when they landed in the London airport, they quickly found Hermione's parents, who were happy about Hermione being home for a couple of days before going away again, and cautious about letting Draco stay in their home. Her mother knew something was going on, but Hermione never told her anything about boys, so she didn't know what. And Draco seemed very polite, if not very American, so she was sure he wouldn't do anything at their home, with them straight down the hall. She hoped feverishly that it hadn't gone that far, but she trusted Hermione. They had raised her with morals, and she even had a promise ring on her left ring finger from her father. By the time they all made it home, she had convinced herself that nothing had happened between them. Almost.

They were at dinner when Hermione suddenly realized something about Draco.

"Draco, I've just noticed. You sound so American, I hardly noticed while we were there."

"Well, I did live there for 7 months. It's only natural."

"Well, yes, but my voice didn't change, did it?"

"No dear, you're still the same. Are you telling me Draco lived here?"

"Yes. He grew up here. He just doesn't remember, yet anyway. Maybe being around familiar things will help you, Draco."

"Yes, that's possible."

Hermione was right. Her mother would not leave them alone for more than five minutes at a time. Finally, it was the night before they were to leave for Grimwald place. Hermione's mother sent them both to bed at eleven o'clock, saying they would have to wake up early the next day for the drive into London. It was nearly one o'clock in the morning when Hermione snuck out of her room and tiptoed down the hallway and slowly, very quietly, opened the door to the guestroom, where Draco was staying. She went over to his bed, and gently shook him awake.

"What? What time is it?"

"Shh! It's around one in the morning."

"What do you want? Is something wrong?" His whispers were fierce with worry.

"No, no, I'm fine. Listen, I know you're nervous about meeting Harry and Ron and everybody. I wondered if you wanted to talk about without my mother around, but if you want to go back to sleep, sorry." She started to leave, when Draco's hand grabbed her wrist.

"No, don't go. You don't have to." She came back and sat down at the end of this bed.

"Was there anything particular you were thinking about?"

"Just, well. Maybe it would be a good idea to change my looks before we met them. I mean, I'm not scared or anything like that, it's just. I don't exactly know how I should react to them. Cause I'm telling you right now, if they go too far, then I won't be responsible for my action." He said the last part while grinning, but Hermione could tell he was partly serious.

"Look, I'll make sure they don't get too out of line. Ron and Harry will back off if I tell them to, really. And you've changed so much, it'll just take them a while to get used to you. I'll be there the whole time. If you have any questions, just ask me, okay?"

"Yeah. I know. I really appreciate that you're making such an effort, really, you have no idea. And I'll try my hardest to control my anger should they get too much."

Hermione was about to say something else, when they heard a faint noise from the bedroom next to his. Shutting her mouth, she immediately went to the wall to listen. Hearing nothing else, she went towards the bed again.

"Maybe I'd better go. My mum would have a cow if she caught me in here."

"Yeah, okay."

Moving to the door, she paused when she reached the closed door, thinking she heard something. After a minute, she decided it was nothing, and reached for the doorknob. However, hearing Draco call her name softly, she turned around, only to find him not even a foot away. Her breath caught in surprise.

"How do you do that?" You get so close, and I don't ever hear you."

"It's a gift. Great for sneaking out and stealing kisses."

Before she had time to reply or be shocked, his lips were on hers. She immediately gave in, enjoying the feeling. As his hands snaked his way around her waist, hers traveled up his toned arms and around his neck, her fingers finding his hair, twirling in it. Pulling her tighter, he reveled in the softness of her lips, tasting sour apple on them. His tongue darted out, running along it along her lips by way of asking. She slightly opened her mouth, and he deepened the kiss. Breaking apart for air, she made a slight noise. His breathing haggard, he said

"You have no idea how long I've been wanting to do that."

"And you have no idea how long I've wanted you to do that."

"Maybe I'm not cursed."

"I don't think I am either."

"Even if you were, I'd still want you."

"That's good to know. Harry and Ron will think I've gone insane."

"That's okay. You can come cry on my shoulder." At the mention of shoulders, he glanced at her bare ones and dipped in. Kissing her lightly at the base of her jaw, he trailed down until he reached the base of her neck, where he stayed for quite some time, finding her gasp most enjoyable when he lightly nipped at her.

"Oh…Draco." She said breathlessly. He returned to her bruised lips once again, and only pulled away because they heard a thump from the other room. Her breath hitching, she said

"Maybe I'd best go back to my room."

"Maybe. We wouldn't want you mom to have a cow." She clamped her hand over her giggling mouth and opened the door, to look out, making sure the coast was clear. As it was, she turned around and said

"Goodnight, Draco."

"Sweet Dreams Hermione." He lightly kissed her cheek, and she left the room in a daze. Falling asleep was no problem for her, thinking of how warm and safe he made her feel. Draco on the other hand, had to read some pages out of the dictionary before he was calm enough to even think of sleep.

**Well? What do you think? My favorite parts were the Air-High-Five and the dictionary part. Wasn't that just brilliant? I think so. The thump will be explained in the next chapter and Draco meets Harry and Ron. DUN DUN DUN! That's just fun to say. Oh, yes, and before you ask, Billy Bob Joe was based on my little brother Nathan, so I let him choose the name. Dark Lord Fuzzy is an inside joke, and I'm not exactly sure what a Mofo is, you'll have to ask Nate. Everything that Billy Bob Joe said, Nate has said at one point in time recently. He is rather random, and I just had to add him in. It's a peculiar type of humor, so don't feel bad if you don't get it. I've got to go now, goodbye**.

** Vamoose Dizzy**


	9. What!

**Hello! First things first, I know that Mofo _normally_ means motherfucker (I'm not stupid, thank you very much) what I meant was that Nathan had his _own_ meaning for it. Get it? I should have been clearer, but still, everyone had to write in and tell me, and it started to get annoying. I mean, I'm not a total recluse. And just to let y'all know, if you didn't already, I am American. I am Proud to be an American. Even though I want to visit Europe, and the accents are just so sweet, I love being American. It's the best. So, that's pretty much it, - oh wait, no it's not. This is the last thing, really – I've decided that instead of trying to space, I'll be doing the whole _line _thing from now on, cause just doesn't cooperate in that aspect. ON TO THE STORY!**

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Chapter 9 : What!

Hermione walked down the stairs at around seven in the morning, still dressed in her pajamas. Finding Draco already there with her parents. Joining them, she stacked pancakes on her plate. After they were all done, Hermione put her dishes in the sink, and started stretching.

"Hermione, what's that on your neck?"

"What!" Her hand immediately clamped over the spot that Draco had been kissing the night before. "Nothing, just a bruise." She started messaging it for effect.

"Talk about bruises, I've got a huge one. I fell off the bed last night, made a big racket, I'm surprised nobody woke up."

"Oh, I heard that. I was wondering about it."

"What were you doing up?"

"Uh, had trouble sleeping. Preoccupied, you could say."

"Yes, well. Better get dressed. After all, we are leaving at ten, right? I still have to pack."

Hermione sped out of the room, hand still covering her "bruise". Draco soon followed, leaving Hermione's father rubbing his back and her mother suspicious. It was around 8:30 when there was a knock at her door.

"Come in!" she shouted, and in came Draco.

"Hey, have you finished packing?"

"I've been done since yesterday. I had to get out of there."

"Oh, right. Cause the hickey,"

"What…well, yes. I mean really, it's quite lucky that Roxy hid some make-up in my trunk, otherwise I'd never be able to talk to anyone without him or her seeing it. And that would have been horrible, what with Dumbledore, Mrs. Weasley, Harry, Ron, and Ginny."

"Ok, ok, I get the point. But you can't say you didn't enjoy it." He grinned.

Hermione looked away and blushed ever so slightly, completely ignoring it.

"Well anyways, is the something you wanted?"

"Yes, actually. We're leaving earlier cause you're mom say my bag and now we have to go shopping for things I didn't even know I needed."

"Yes, that's my mum for you. I'll grab a few things and be down in a minute."

"Kay. I'll tell your mom."

Soon they were done with shopping and their car could be spotted a block away from Grimwald place. They pulled up at precisely 10:45. Once they convinced Mrs. Granger that they would indeed, get in the house, they drove away. After a moment or so of silence, Hermione started speaking.

"Okay, listen. I know I'm going to sound really stupid asking this, but…are we…" She didn't know how to finish, so he did.

"You mean, are we going out?" He asked surprised. Hermione stared blankly at him. Suddenly he got it.

"Oh right. I thought you'd known – we just –

"Sorry, I know – really stupid –

"No, not at all. It's my fault – " she cut him off again.

"No, really it's not – " He cut her off again

"Yeah, it is. Let me finish (Hermione closed the mouth that was about to interrupt get again) Ok, it's my fault. In America, it's like, once you go on a date or kiss or something, you're like – automatically going out. Boyfriend and girlfriend. I didn't realize it wasn't the same over here."

"Oh"

"Yeah"

Silence

"So…"

"(small sigh) Hermione, would you be my girlfriend?"

"Yes" was her reply with a big smile.

"Great then. Do you know when I'm supposed to be sorted? I'm sorta nervous."

"No idea. It's all up to – Oh, hello Professor Dumbledore."

"Goodmorning Hermione, Draco."

"Hey" was Draco's brief reply with a nod.

"So, shall we be going in?"

"Where?"

"Number 12, Grimwald Place."

"Oh, I see." And for the first time, he did see the house.

"Yes. Right this way, be sure to be quiet."

He led them into the house, where Draco followed Hermione's example and put down his stuff in the hall they had just entered. He was amazed when he walked into the kitchen, to see the dishes being done by non-existent hands. He saw a plump, red haired woman, checking some sort of soup that was close to boiling. She turned around.

"Oh, Hermione dear, it's so good to see you. And who's that behind – " She stopped short when she saw who it was. "Albus, is that…?" She trailed off.

"Molly, I would like to introduce you to Draco Malfoy."

He stepped forward, putting his hand out, intending to shake her hand.

"Albus, is this some sort of joke?" She looked disbelieving at his hand, (which was slowly dropping) and then to Dumbledore.

"I assure you, it is no joke. Perhaps we should talk alone. Hermione, if you would?"

"Oh, yes, of course. We'll just go put our things away. It's nice to be back Mrs. Weasley."

* * *

Draco followed Hermione up several flights of stairs, before she finally stopped in front of a door and voices could be heard coming from within.

"Are you ready?"

"No."

"You'll be fine. Really."

"If you say so. But if you're wrong, I get a kiss."

"Ok. Fair deal. I'm going to open the door now."

"Alright."

The door swung open, and suddenly there was a flurry of activity, then none. They were happy cause they spotted Hermione, and then froze once they spotted Draco. Ron's face was slowly going red.

"What's FerretFace doing here!"

"Shut up Weasley!"

Hermione looked shocked, and Draco had a faraway look on his face. He turned to Hermione.

"It was reflex, I have no idea where it came from."

"Oh, Draco this is wonderful. You remembered it! Granted it wasn't the nicest thing, but still! You remembered." She hugged him, squeezing tight. Then, just a quickly, she let go and looked at Harry, Ron, and Ginny.

"Hey guys…" she said uncertainly.

"Hermione, why did you just hug Malfoy?" Harry asked her slowly with controlled anger.

"What is with you people and last names? God, even if we hate somebody we still call them their first names in America. It must be a British thing."

The three of them stared at him in shock.

"What is going on Hermione?" Ginny asked in an amazed voice.

"I don't want any interruptions, okay?" They all nodded. "Alright, now then, I'm sure we all remember the day we discovered he was gone. Well, it turns out, that he lived in Ohio, in a town that my friend Roxy lived in. We happened to run into each other, and I discovered that he couldn't remember anything. So I wrote Dumbledore a letter, telling him I'd found him. Eventually, I got to know him, and found he was very different from the Malfoy we all knew. I mean, it's more like he's Ryan – that's what they called him over there- instead of Malfoy. So Dumbledore decided to bring him back here. He's going to be resorted and everything."

"You have got to be kidding me! Of course he remembers everything! He's a lying, cheating, son of a –"

"Ronald Weasley, that is enough! I trust him, and that should be enough for you until you get over your petty differences and learn that he is a good person!"

"Ok, ok, Hermione. Lets all calm down. Now, Draco, or Ryan, or whatever, could you give us a moment?"

"Yeah sure. I'll just…be in the hallway I guess."

He left the room, shutting the door behind him. All was silent for a moment.

"He didn't have to leave, you know."

"Hermione, it's just – "

"Look, I know it's a lot to swallow, but really, he's changed. It took me a bit, but I got over it, and now we're…"

"What?"

She took a deep breath. "We're going out."

"WHAT!" Ron stormed out of the room, and everybody rushed after him, just fast enough to see Ron hit Draco in the jaw.

"Ronald! Oh, my gosh Draco – " Hermione was rushing forward, but Harry held her back, curious as to what he would do. Before he knew what was happening, Draco's fist was less than an inch away from Ron's face. Growling, he spoke.

"You're lucky I like Hermione so much, dude. Two for flinchin!" Next thing he knew, Ron received two punches on his arm. Draco was laughing like mad, and pretty soon Harry and Ginny started laughing too. Hermione was too busy glaring at Ron to laugh, and Ron was too busy trying to look shocked and guilty all at once.

"Dude, you should have seen your face! It was hilarious! But seriously, next time you come after me, I'll kick your ass, k? We clear on that?"

Ron was too dumbfounded to be mad. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. It hadn't gone as planned, but at least Harry and Ginny would see he was different. And that was the main issue. But what was Ron's problem? She determined to herself to talk to him alone later. For now, however, she was happy that nobody had died.

**

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**Well? How'd you like it? I like the "two for flinchin" part the best. Cause I just love doing that to my friends, ya know, it's so funny. Guess what? That calls for KAREOKE! (bursts out into song) Whew, singing and dancing takes a lot out of ya! Oh, yes, and I've recently read two new wonderful books, FOREVER by Jude Deveraux and DREADFUL SORRY by Kathryn Reiss. They really are just so uber-cool and a really good read. AND something very big will happen in the next chapter, just to let you know. Have fun wondering!**

** Vamoose Dizzy**


	10. Nightmares and Strolls

** Hey peeps! I have an announcement, so listen closely. I have decided that I shall start responding to you wonderful reviewers. The reviews are getting better and asking more questions, so I feel the need to answer them. Off we go!**

**RootbeerFloat OH MY GOD! I cannot believe you like my story! You're one of my favorite authors ever, and I feel so honored, you have no idea. And I'm totally not mad about what you said, cause I actually agree. I have noticed it, but sometimes I just can't find the words I want, so it ends up sort of … blah. But still, I was so happy to hear that you like it. I'll try harder for all future chapters, thanks bunches for reviewing!**

**Lady of the Realm I'm so glad you think it's funny! And yes, it's sad that more fics aren't funny, really misleading actually. About the Jeopardy thing, that wasn't part of the actual story, that was me being…weird I guess. Sorry about the confusion. I'm thrilled to hear you want to read more, thanks bunches! I'll try to keep up on a regular basis, but it gets hard sometimes. Typing is so tedious. Well, I think so anyway. Thanks Bunches again!**

**SiLvErEyEdGiRl I love him too, I just had to put him in. He's just so funny. Yeah, brothers are weird, they're annoying and random, but we love 'em anyways. (maybe cause of it?) Well, no, my name isn't Dawn, but I really like the name. It's pretty and origional, and sounds good with dizzy, that's why I chose it. Is this soon enough for you? Let me know, and Thanks Bunches for reviewing!**

**AnglxDev105 That would be so cool if we've met! Yes, I'm from Ohio, po-dunk Swanton infact. Where are you from in Ohio? I'm so happy you're excited enough to sing, it really gives me a boost to update faster! Thank you for all the compliments, and Thanks Bunches for reviewing! I hope you like the next chapter!**

**Sorry if I missed anyone, and if you decided to review again, you can yell. Yelling always helps me:)**

* * *

Chapter 10 : Nightmares and Strolls

It had been almost two weeks since they arrived in England. Harry and Ginny had made good by Draco and in Hermione's opinion, the only problem was Ron. And Draco. It seemed they were determined to not be friends. Mrs. Weasley had just announced that Dumbledore would be coming by and tomorrow they would be going through the basement. Now however, they were sorting through the attic. Draco and Harry were on one side, with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny on the other side. After making sure Hermione was busy, Draco leaned conspiritorily towards Harry and whispered to him.

"Harry, what are the houses?"

"I can't tell you."

"Aw, come on man, Hermione will never know"

From across the room, he heard her shout "Draco, stop! Harry won't tell you!" He hung his head defeatedly.

"How does she do that?"

"I don't know, but Hermione hears everything."

"Nobody can hear everything dude, that's just stupid."

"Then how do you explain her hearing?"

"Fine, you win." He said with a 'humpf'

"Always do."

"Riggghhhttt." He said sarcastically.

"Oh shut up."

The door opened and Mrs. Weasley came in.

"Alright that's enough. Draco, Albus wants to see you."

'Okay, be down in a minute."

Mrs. Weasley scowled at his lack of a proper sentence. Everybody was done picking up soon, and they all trooped down to the kitchen. Once there, they saw THE HAT. All but Draco quickly grew excited.

"Ah, Draco. How are you doing? Everything is going well, I hope?"

"Great. Almost everybody is cool with it." He said, glancing at Ron.

"That's wonderful. I see you're wearing all black."

"Yeah. Part of my 'disguise' thing. I thought I'd get used to it."

"Oh, you have decided upon your look?"

"Yeah. I'm gonna do the whole 'goth-punk' thing. Black hair, and oh, I was wondering. When you "cast" the charm or whatever, will it turn all my hair black?"

"Yes. Please step forward, and choose a word."

"For what?"

"The spell."

"Oh. Ok, how about Fuzzy? (seeing their puzzled looks-he added) In honor of Dark Lord Fuzzy."

"Dark Lord Fuzzy?"

"Yeah, don't worry. It's just some little paper thing that his friend Nathan made. He also has fugdesickle minions." Hermione said between laughs.

"Right. Hurry, I want to see what he looks like."

"Yes, of course. **_Prendus Totendely Forte." _**He waved his wand over Draco's head, and suddenly, there was a blinding flash of light. However, when they could see again, they all saw the same Draco.

"Uh, no offence, but I'm still the same. Maybe you got it wrong?"

"Clear your mind. Let yourself only think of one thing - Fuzzy."

"Alright." He said uncertainly, looking strangely at the old man.

Soon, he heard a gasp from Hermione. He opened his eyes, thinking 'weird, I feel the same'. He turned around, seeing a flash of black before his eyes. Hermione came forward, her eyes taking in his face.

"You look so different." She reached a hand up, touching his hair. "It even feels different. It's longer too. And I didn't know you had facial hair."

"My hair is almost white, and I keep it to a minimal."

She pulled back and let him have a look at himself. His first thought was 'Vampire!'

"Oh, cool! Dude, I look like a vampire! Just don't have the fangs. Any chance you could…."

"No, I cannot. Now then, the charm I placed on you will enable you to change back and forth, so long as you concentrate on the word 'Fuzzy' very clearly. Now that we have all that settled, would you like to be sorted?"

"Oh, really? Yeah, let's go!"

"We're not going anywhere. Draco, ther are four Houses at Hogwarts – Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, and Slytherin. You will be sorted into one of these houses and stay there for the entirety of the year. Your house will be like you're family. Please sit down." He said, lifting up THE HAT.

"But…"

"Just do it, Draco. It's not going to bite!"

"Fine then." He sat down and allowed THE HAT to be placed on his head.

INSIDE THE HAT

My, my, Draco Malfoy. You certainly have changed. Are you sure you're ready to go back? I can see your doubts, clear as crystal. You're smart, brave, cunning, but sort of lazy. Your cunning and sneakiness come from your knowledge, and your bravery is not impulsive. You'd better be………

"Ravenclaw!" THE HAT shouted to the now crowed room.

ENDING INSIDE THE HAT

The hat was removed and he stood to applause. Suddenly, his line of vision was blocked by curly brown hair.

"Oh, Draco, that's wonderful!" Ravenclaw is one of the best houses! I was almost put into Ravenclaw."

"You mean, you're not in Ravenclaw?"

"No. But don't worry, you can still hang out with us. That doesn't have to change at all."

His smile faltered just the slightest bit.

"So, what house are you in?"

"We're all in Gryffindor."

"Oh. He almost put me there, but then decided I wasn't very impulsive."

Hermione laughed. Leaning in, she touched her forehead to his. Whispering, she told him,

"I'm glad you're in Ravenclaw. I was starting to get sick of Gryffindor boys, if you know what I mean…" she glanced at Harry and Ron. "Such tempers." He leaned back, laughing heartily, then leaned forward again, kissing her.

* * *

Hermione lay in bed that night, thinking about Draco. She really was glad he was put in Ravenclaw, as this not only meant he was smart enough to keep up with her, but it also enhanced his chances of becoming Head Boy. With happy thoughts floating around her head, she drifted off into sleep.

* * *

_She awoke with a start. The first thing she saw was Draco's face. She couldn't breathe, his hands were around her throat!_

_"Dra…co! Stop!" came her strangled reply._

_"NO! I remember everything, it's always been a dream of mine to kill you with my bare hands" His face twisted into an evil sneer, his eyes looked insane._

_ She stuggled harder, trying to stop him, but soon only saw darkness._

She awoke with a start.

"Hermione! Wake up! It's a dream! Wake up!" Ginny was shaking her. She stopped when she saw that Hermione was indeed awake.

"You were thrashing around, what was it?"

"Nothing. I…I don't remember. I'm sure it was nothing."

Ginny nodded, sleepy. Hermione was awake the rest of the night.

The morning and part of the afternoon were taken up by shopping. Soon they were all back, and mostly everyone had put their things away. Draco was trying to improve Harry's skill at chess, Hermione was reading her new book, and Ron and Ginny were argueing over what Mrs. Weasely was making for dinner. Draco sighed, finally giving up.

"Man, I'm sorry, but if you haven't got it by now, you're not gonna get it."

Ignoring Harry's glare, he walked over to where Hermione was sitting.

"You wanna go for a walk?"

"Can't. Reading."

"Come on, did I do something wrong?" He said, rather loudly at that. Harry, Ginny, and Ron all looked on in anticipation. Hermione snapped her large book shut.

"Fine then, let's go for a walk."

She marched out of the room, Draco following. Not however, before hearing Harry's comment.

"You'll be dead before you get back. What would you like at your funeral?"

By the time he got out of the house, Hermione was already halfway to the little park they always walked to. Draco took his time, sliding next to her on he bench almost 10 minutes later. He waited.

"What was that?" She asked with barely controlled anger.

"You've been avoiding me all day! You wouldn't even sit by me for lunch, how could I not notice that? What the hell did I do to make you so mad at me? We were fine yesterday."

"Nothing. You did absolutely nothing."

"Then what happened?" Draco was starting to get frustrated, and it was starting to show.

"I had a dream." She stated calmly.

"You've been avoiding me because of a fuckin' dream!" he yelled.

"Don't cuss! Yes, I had a dream. A horrible, very realistic dream that you tried to strangle me to death in my sleep. You remembered everything, and said 'it's always been a dream of mine to kill you with my bare hands'. And I died. You killed me!"

Hermione was crying freely now, her face buried in her hands. Draco's anger was instantly gone. He pulled her into his chest, his arms firmly around her.

"Don't you dare think for one second that I would ever hurt you. Not for one second. I would never do that. I just want you to smile, remember?"

Hermione tears had stopped, and she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Just tell me next time."

"I was sort of hoping there wouldn't be next time."

"Yes. Well, yes, there won't be a next time."

They walked back to the house, hand in hand. Harry, Ginny, and Ron were all amazed, and Ginny even started looking for scars.

"Dude, ya'll are physco. She didn't do a thing to me."

He grinned at their astounded faces, and led Hermione upstairs to "read", her book laying forgotten on the chair.

* * *

**Well? Let me know what you think! I'll be updating later tonight after I get something to eat and let my fingers rest. Typing is so tedious. I'll be going now.**

** Dizzy**


	11. The Truth and a little attitude!

**Hilo! I'm listening to The Killers : Hot Fuss right now, and they totally rock! I just got their CD, so I'll be listening to it nonstop for a while. Moving on, I just have to say a few things to a few people.**

**Samantha Cameron I'm sorry I forgot you, I truly am. You're one of my most loyal reviewers, and it means a lot to me. I'm appalled at myself for forgetting you, could you find it in your heart to forgive me?(sad puppy face) I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

**Plooshgirl I realize that you're mad, but really! I was totally disgusted with your attitude about the whole thing, I mean I made compromises. I let it work out so that he would be able to change it back to blonde any time he wanted, which wasn't in my origional line of thought. That's the best I can do. What would you have me do? Have every single person be completely oblivious to the fact that he would look so much like Draco Malfoy, it would just to be too much! I took you're reviews into consideration, really I did, but I can't change the whole story for just one person, and I hope you realize that. I'll be sorry if you stop reading the story, but I'm not gonna change it.**

**Jackie All your questions are about to be answered! I hope you like the outcome. Thanks Bunches for all your reviews. **

**InsideMyWorld How did your play go? My school was putting on a musical this weekend, so I know how hectic it can be. I wasn't able to update as quickly as I wanted, so here's to being busy! Cheers! I'm anxious to hear what you think of the latest addition. Thanks Bunches for reviewing!**

**And thank you to Lady of the Realm for reviewing, I'm glad you enjoyed Fuzzy. lol**

**If I didn't respond to you, it's because I didn't get the review until after I posted this, so thanks to all in advance!**

* * *

Chapter 11 : The Truth

Draco was laying on his bed in his room, listening to "The Truth" by Good Charolotte. 'The truth,' he thought, 'would be nice to know.' Soon, he was in a deep sleep, comforted by the music of one of his favorite bands. He dreamt of himself, of his life, and **!Bang! **just like that, he remembered everything.

He woke with a start, breathing heavily. His first coherent thought was of Hermione, and then his family. Grinding his teeth, he would make them pay, he thought. Draco silently treaded down the hall to Hermione and Ginny's room, pausing at the door. 'Should I tell her now?' he briefly doubted himself. 'No, she needs to know now, just wake her up, she'll understand'. Deciding that the second voice was right, he silently went into the room, shutting the door behind him. Creeping over to where she lay, with her covers partly kicked off, he knelt beside the bed. Putting his head on the edge of the matress while his got a hold of himself, he didn't even notice Hermione stirring. In fact, he only noticed when Hermione called his name in a very sleepy and confused voice. He looked up, avoiding her eyes. Hermione woke immediately seeing the silver tear streaks down his cheeks.

"Draco, what's happened? What's wrong?"

In a voice barely above a whisper, he told her. "I remember." Hermione was silent for a moment, and Draco didn't see the conflicting emotions that were splaying across her face. She finally decided to be happy for him.

"Well, that's good, right? No more big gaping hole, that's good." She said, trying to lighten the mood.

"No, it's not. It isn't good at all. I remember everything, being such an ass to you, hurting you so much. I made your life hell, I hated everyone. I don't want these memories, this isn't what I expected."

He put his head down again, crying into the matress freely. A moment passed, and then he felt Hermione's arms around him in a firm and loving embrace. After a while of just crying, he managed to pull himself together. I mean really, crying into the arms of his girlfriend? It should be the other way around, he thought. Pulling himself back, Draco found Hermione's hands on his cheeks, caressing his face, wiping his tears away.

"Ya know, you're the only person to ever touch my face."

"Ever? Really?"

"Third year, Hermione. You hit like Hell." She blushed in the dark, her hands moving to hold his own.

"So… how did you remember?" She asked quietly, unsure if it would upset him again.

"Through my dreams. Hermione, you've got to know, I'm so sorry. I was such an ass, I hate being able to remember that. You have to know, you have to be sure, I don't ever want to hurt you like that, and I'll make sure that I don't by keeping those memories. I'm not asking your forgiveness, cause I know I'm far from it, but…"

"Draco, it's okay. You haven't hurt me since we met in such a long time. I'm sorry, I just can't forgive you though."

"What?" He asked breathlessly. He felt as though his head was about to explode from all the blood rushing to it.

"I can't forgive you because I already have. When I look at you, I see Draco. Not a trace of Malfoy left." He let his breath out.

"That was so not funny. Do you know how worried you had me?" She meerly smiled at him, and then asked him the strangest question he had yet to hear come out of her mouth.

"Draco, do you want to say with me tonight?"

"What? I… no I couldn't…it's too…"

"Draco please? Just stay with me."

"Alright." He sat down, with the back of his head on the matress, making himself comfortable.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm staying with you."

"But…Draco, I meant here, on the bed, with me." At Draco's raised eyebrow, she continued.

"Draco, you know that's not what I meant. Come on, don't be difficult. It'll help us both."

"Okay then, if it means that much to you." He sighed, as if it were some big hassle he was going through.

He moved next to her on the bed. After a moment's hesitation, he slipped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer. She smiled and breathed deeply, closing her eyes.

"That's better." Suddenly, her eyes snapped open. "Draco, we'll have to contact Dumbledore right away in the morning. He needs to know, who did this to you?" She felt him tense around her.

"Can we talk about it in the morning?"

"Of course. You don't have to tell me anything until you're ready to."

"It's okay, I'm just tired. I've got this whole bombardment thing going on inside my head."

"Oh, that's understandable. Goodnight, Draco."

"Night, Hermione."

* * *

Hermione awoke to the sound of a tapping noise. The sun was pouring in the window, and she was forced to squint. She then was forced to widen her eyes with shock. The tapping noise was Mrs. Weasley's tapping foot! Hermione quickly tried to get out of Draco's grip. It didn't work. She turned back towards him, whispering harshly in his ear.

"Draco, wake up! Mrs. Weasley is in the room! Let go!"

His eyes snapped open in surprise and fear, and before she knew what was happening, she was standing up, and Draco was more than a foot away from her. She opened her mouth to explain, but was beat to it.

"HERMIONE JANE GRANGER AND DRACO MALFOY! How dare you? And with Ginny in the next bed over! I am deeply disappointed in you Hermione, I thought you were better than that!"

"No, it's not like that at all. Mrs. Weasley please, listen! Draco came to me last night because he remembered everything and was greatly upset. You know I would never do that, I'm only 17! I was only comforting him, really!"

Mrs. Weasley stared at them critically for a few more minutes. Finally, after what seemed like forever to the two of them, she spoke.

"Alright, I trust you on this Hermione, but I want you both to understand, this is NOT, I repeat not to happen again. Get dressed, breakfast is on, and you – (she grabbed Draco by the ear) you are coming with me, and we are going to talk."

As he was dragged from the room, Hermione gave him a look as if to say 'you should be glad that's all that's going to happen'. Soon she was ready and went downstairs, carefully avoiding everyone's eyes. When Mrs. Weasley came in 15 minutes later with Draco following, she made an announcement.

"We've received your letters, you can open them after you're done eating. Dumbledore will be paying a visit this afternoon and you have the morning to do what you want. No roughhousing, or something that I wouldn't approve of." She said the last part taking turns looking at Draco and Hermione, who bowed her head so low you'd think she didn't have one. The tension in the room wasn't broken until Tonks came in, breaking the silence as well.

"I haven't tripped once today!" Then, while walking to the table to get some food, she tripped, landing on her face. "Aww, man. I was going for a record."

Mrs. Weasley handed out their letters. The silence of the reading teens was broken by Hermione jumping up and down, giggling madly.

"I've done it! I'm Head Girl! Oh, this is going to perfect!"

"Hermione, that's great. I knew they'd pick you!"

"Thanks Gin, it means a lot to me." Her smile as wide as it could be, she looked to the boy's.

"So, which of you is Head Boy with me?"

"That would be me." Draco stood up, totally unprepared for the rushing of Hermione's monstrous hug. She pulled back and looked to Harry and Ron.

"Sorry guys."

"Don't worry about it. I've got enough responsibilities."

"That's for sure. Ron?" They all looked to find him no longer in the room.

"Where'd he go?"

"Do you think he's upset?"

"Why do you care?"

"Draco hush, Ron sensitive about these matters, you know that."

"So sorry. Forgive me while I don't care."

"Draco!"

"_Hermione!_" After her glare did not subside, he continued.

"Look, all I'm saying is, sure, it's bad luck for him, but it's all good for us. We got Head Boy and Head Girl, and instead of celebrating like we should be, we're talking about Ron's _feelings._"

"Yes, but – "

"No buts! Are we going to celebrate or not?"

"Well, I…"

"Yes. As Ron's sister, I say he'll get over it, and he needs to stop being such a sissy about it anyway."

"Alright then! I always knew I liked you Ginny. When should we celebrate?"

"We can ask mum to make a cake for dinner or something. Maybe go for icecream?"

"Oh, no – let's go to a movie! Movie in the morning and then out to lunch. It'll be great!"

"Oh, what a good idea! You guys have never seen one, have you?"

"Nope. I only know what you've told me, and what my dad says about the muggles."

"I haven't seen one either."

"Dude, you have got to be kidding!"

"I'm not. You don't the Dursleys."

"Alright, so it's all settled. Movie and lunch tomorrow. Just one question : Is _Ron _going to come?"

Silence prevailed upon the room.

"Well, I…I don't know. Do you think he'd be more upset if we asked him, or if we didn't?"

"Why don't we invite him, but only if he's not going to mope."

"That's great! I'll go talk to my brother, Harry, why don't you talk to mum? She can hardly say no to you."

"That's not true." At everyone's roll of the eyes, he added "Okay, so maybe she likes to spoil me a bit. I don't have a problem with it."

"And neither do we. Let's go."

Ginny and Harry left the room. Ginny came down almost right away.

"What did Ron say?"

"Hermione, I don't get him. He said he doesn't feel good, so he'll not be going. He sounded fine, so I just think he didn't want to go. Is Harry back yet?"

"No. You seem very happy about Ron not coming, Ginny, care to tell?"

"Well, maybe without Ron there, something will happen."

"What will happen?"

"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all Harry, what did mum say?"

"Said it'd be fine, be we have to find a ride."

"Oh, I can owl my mum. She'll be happy to take us."

"Great, we've got it all planned out. Hermione's mom will take us to the movie, then we'll all have lunch, and come back here, right?"

"Right."

It was just then, that Dumbledore arrived. Hermione jumped right up, thanking him profusely for the Head Girl badge. Draco played it cool, though he was so nervous about talking about his memories he could practically feel every nerve and twitch of his body. Too soon for Draco taste, Dumbledore asked the others to leave. It was a few minutes before he spoke.

"Molly tells me you've regained your memories." It was more of a statement then a question.

"Yep."

His professor was silent, and Draco sat there, thinking of all the times he'd ever seen the Headmaster.

"Draco, who did this? And why? There should be criminal charges. Talking about it will help."

"I'd be dead before there was even a trial."

"Draco, I can protect you. Hogwarts is safe."

"Nowhere is safe from my father."

"Draco, did your father do this? I assure you, you would be safe."

"How many times do I have to tell you? NOWHERE IS SAFE FROM HIM! I'm not saying a damn thing! I've finally got the life I've wanted, and I'm not "pressing charges", only to die three days later. I'll deal with them myself, and I'll make them pay. There won't be a trace left."

He went to leave but stopped at the door when Dumbledore called his name.

"Draco, I know you're angry, but that isn't the way to deal with it."

"Don't be stupid. You don't know what it's like to have your own father turn you away because you don't want to be a murderer. You don't know what it's like to have someone hate you like that. You don't know and I'll be damned if YOU can protect me from him. No – I'm going to settle this. Don't get in my way."

This time, he didn't stop.

* * *

**Well? How did you like it? Isn't that just so dark of him? See, he's not completely reformed, he still has a bit of that bad boy in him. That's what I like the best about him, in fact. AND, I realize that there isn't a lot of one on one action with Hermione and Draco, but that will soon change once they're all at school. I can't wait!**

** Dizzy**


	12. BOOM! for no particular reason

**Hey! It's currently 3:09 in the morning. I couldn't get to sleep, and I just figured out how I wanted this chapter to go, so here I am, typing away. And I've also decided that I don't want this to be like, a really long story and have like, 30 chapters or something. So, in accordance with that, I have come to the conclusion that there will probably be like, 2 or 3 more chapters. I don't really want to go into the whole school year and everything, ya know? I've also just realized that I have said 'like' a lot, so I'll stop now and start with the story. See you at the bottom!**

**XoKaSsIeox No, that was not a dream. It's ok, I get like that sometimes too. Thanks for the good review!**

**Lady of the Realm Your review made me laugh! lol Thanks for the encouragement, it means a lot. As I read back now, I could see where you get rude, but then again, he was angry and in the heat of the moment. I find that most people tend to get rather rude when they're mad, I think it's just cause they don't care anymore, and I wanted to make it real, ya know?** **Well, maybe you don't and I'm just strange, but Thanks Bunches for the review!**

**Plooshgirl Yeah, we cool. I'm glad you're still reading, too. Your questions are good, but I just can't answer them yet! Sorry. Thanks for the excellent review!**

**SexySlytherin2 (Jackie) How do you do that? You're like, so close it's scary! That's almost exactly what happens, but there's an (hopefully) unexpected aspect (or two) that comes into play and adds confusion for Draco. You're one of my best reviewers, thanks!**

**Lucivar I'm thrilled that you think it flows well and it's captivating! Hmm…how should I answer about Ron? How about, one is right, and one has just a bit of truth to it. I'll leave it to you to decide which is which. Thanks Bunches for the wonderful review!**

* * *

Chapter 12 : BOOM! (For no particular reason)

Draco didn't come out of his room for the whole day, not even when Hermione came knocking. She went to bed worried about him, and woke up with a horrid feeling in the pit of her stomach. She went down to breakfast, hoping Draco was there, only to be disappointed. Practically choking down her food, she took some extra food up on a tray, intending to entice him to open the door with it. She momentarily set the tray on the floor to knock on the door. After knocking several times, even shouting his name, there was still nothing from the inside. Hermione sighed defeatedly, picking the tray up, and going back downstairs, her frown only increasing. She sat at the table just being miserable for a few moments, then silently determining to herself that she wouldn't let Draco to continue doing whatever he was doing in there alone. Marching back upstairs, she stopped at his door, pounding, demanding to be let in. With only silence greeting her, she gave a low growl, and yanked on the doorknob, surprised when the door flew open. Hermione walked in, glancing about, and realized that no one was even in the room. Immediately, panic ran through her whole body, and she was about to scream and assure herself that everything was fine when she spotted a piece of notebook paper folded up on the bed. Walking over mechanically, she snatched it off the bed and sat down, unfolding it. It didn't even take her a minute to read it.

Hermione

I'm sorry. I hope to see you soon.

Draco

She started taking deep, calming breaths, and left the room, walking shakily down the stairs, as everyone was still in the kitchen. Hermione stopped just inside the door, still breathing deeply, and was totally silent. It wasn't long before everyone else in the kitchen was silent as well. Ginny broke it.

"Hermione…?"

"He left. He's gone."

"What?"

"Draco. He's gone somewhere. Said he 'hoped' to see me soon. (She choked on the tears threatening to escape her throat) Do you know what that means?"

"Um…that he needed a break?"

"It means he thinks there's a possibility that he won't see me again. Like he'd be –dead – or something. Where'd he go? Why would he go if he thought he might _die_?" Her voice was quivering by the time she finished her sentence.

* * *

Draco was currently sneaking into his parent's room at Malfoy Manor. Using the skills that his father had drilled into him since the age of two, he managed to sneak in and grab both of his parents' wands. He left just as silently as he had come, and went into his father's study. He knew just where to look for the letter that 'someone' had sent his father, informing him of Draco's 'un-Malfoy-ish' behavior that led to the whole damned night. Ah, right there. Lucius Malfoy was known for keeping everything in order and this was no different.

"Dear Lucius,

I am sad to inform you that Draco hasn't been himself lately. I'm worried about him. I think he might be having second thoughts about siding with the Dark Lord. I've even heard the wretched Weasley boy saying that he doesn't seem as mean to that mudblood bookworm anymore. I'm just looking out for my future family, and I know you will take this seriously. I would just hate to see Draco turn out like some muggle-lover, and I care deeply for him. He ignores me every time I bring it up, I'm afraid you're his last hope.

Sincerely, Pansy Parkinson"

Figures it is Ron who tips her over the edge and makes her write my father, he thought. He heard the door, and looked up to see his father standing in the doorway. He put the letter down and sat in the chair, putting his feet on the desk.

"Draco."

"Actually, I go by Ryan now. Not that you would know anything about that though, right?"

"You've been watching muggle cop shows. How disgusting." He sneered.

"Oh, it's okay. You're more disgusting, so I guess you'd be used to it."

"Don't speak to your father in such a tone." His voice like ice. Thin, cold, and hard.

"Oh, but I don't. My father is back in America, with my mom. You see, I've decided I don't want you anymore."

"Really?"

"Oh yes. They are much better parents than you ever were. And after I take care of you, I'll go visit them for Christmas."

"How very foolish of you to think you could ever beat me, Draco."

"I told you, it's Ryan. Is it really very foolish of me, when I have your wand? And Narcissa's?"

"Your mother."

"No. A mother would never let a father do that to her child. My mother in America, why, she would never do anything of the sort to me."

"Your mother loves you. I don't know why since you're a horrible excuse of a son, but she does, so show some damned respect."

"Nope. I don't think I will. I'd been wondering why she begged you not to kill me, my guess was she just didn't like the thought. This complicates things a little."

"You won't be doing anything, so it really doesn't matter."

"Oh, yes I will be doing something. You won't like it, but then again, you won't remember."

He quickly stunned Lucius, did a silencing charm just in case, and then severed his left arm. It was rather messy, and much more bloody than he would have liked, but he didn't care at the moment. He could see the pain in his eyes, and didn't even care. That's what scared him the most, looking back on the night. He picked up the arm from the floor, looking over the DarkMark on it. He hit his father with his bloodied arm, and said, laughing

"Stop hittin yourself, stop hittin yourself." Seeing his eyes harden, and questioning, he couldn't help but adding "Sorry. Couldn't resist doing that, I mean really, it is sorta funny." Lucius silently fumed.

"Well, maybe not to you, but definently to me. Too bad you won't remember anything, it'd be fun to drop by and tease you about it."

His stunning spell was just wearing off, so he raised his wand, pointed it directly at him, and hollered.

"AV – no just kidding. I couldn't kill you, Hermione wouldn't like that. But I can do what you did to me.

OBLIVIATE!" He fell to the floor, fully unconscious. Draco went into the room, watching his mother sleeping for a moment. No, he decided, I won't cause her pain. Her memories can just slip away with the night. He whispered the same charm at his mother, not wanting to wake her, but still making it powerful.

He went back into the study, avoiding the blood on the carpet. He quickly wrote a letter to St. Mungo's, saying nothing besides there were two people without memory in the Malfoy Manor. He even used his left hand, making it look like a five-year-olds writing. After all, he couldn't have some smartass dude matching his handwriting. He cleaned everything with a simple spell, and walked out of the house. Finally letting himself imagine how pissed Hermione was going to be with him, he didn't even notice someone coming up from behind him.

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**OOOHHHH! I think I'll leave it at that. Sounds good, right? Don't hate me! Who it is? What will they do? What will Draco do? What will Hermione do to Draco? And before you even say anything, yes, the arm bit was rather nasty, but he had to get some kind of cruel and unusual punishment in. Plus he wanted to remove the DarkMark, to lesson Lucius's chances of remembering anything. I'll write more later!**

** Dizzy**


	13. NO, that's not all!

**Hi Peeps! Guess what? I have BIG news. This is the last chapter. Officially anyways. Unofficially, I can't say for sure. This chapter should answer some questions that people have had, so… the story!**

**WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!**

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Chapter 13: No, that's not all!

Draco woke up to the noise of a ripping sound. He cracked an eye open and saw Dumbledore staring at him.

"Ah, Draco, you're awake!"

"Yeah, so?"

"We weren't sure if you were going to wake up. You've been comatose for two weeks. We're in the Hospital Wing right now. It's September 19th."

"Hermione's Birthday."

"Yes. Draco, I think it'd be best if you tell me what happened."

'Yeah, more like I have to.'

"Umm…."

"Start at the beginning."

"There's not that much to tell."

"Draco." He trailed off in a warning tone.

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

"Then please, go on."

"This all started in December when Lucius demanded that I become a DeathEater. I told him no for my own reason, and he wasn't very happy. Said I was a failure and unworthy to be his son. I told him to fuck off. He tortured me for a while, trying to make me change my mind. When I didn't, he was gonna kill me, but Narcissa begged him not to. Instead, he erased my memories and sent me to Ohio. You know all about when Hermione found me, and then when we came to England, I remembered. You tried to make me 'press charges' but I wouldn't do that. That night I went to my house, ya know – for payback. I took care of them, I'm sure somebody found them. I left, thinking it was all good, but somebody knocked me out. I don't remember anything beyond that point. That's all."

"Oh, no! That's not all! You conveniently left out the part when you left and all you gave me was a damned note that made it seem like you were going to your death! Do you know how worried I – we all were!"

"Hello, Hermione. I see my owl was successful, so glad you could join us. I'll talk with you later Draco."

Dumbledore left them alone and Hermione just stared at him for a moment. Suddenly, she was hugging him tightly and crying into his chest.

"Hermione"

"No, shut up! How dare you do that to me? You didn't even say goodbye. I could have gone with you – I've been in danger plenty of times with Harry and Ron!"

"Hermione, look – "

"No – I'm not done. Draco, I was so worried! You should know better than that. And what did you mean when you said you took care of them? You didn't kill them, did you?"

"No. Can I talk now?"

"No!" (Long Pause) "Okay, now you can talk."

"Hermione, I'm sorry I left like that, really. Don't think I didn't think you were up to it, it was anything but. I remembered how you would go with Harry and Ron, and I didn't like it. I knew something could have happened, and that's why I didn't tell you. I didn't want you to be in danger."

"I…really? I don't know what to think. I never thought about it like that, but still – I wish you had told me."

"Can I tell you something?"

"What?"

"Look at me."

She turned her head, and looked at him. Draco pushed her hair out of her face, just looking at her for a moment.

"Hermione, I… I love you." If she hadn't been so close to him, she wouldn't have heard what he said.

"What?" She said disbelievingly.

"I love you." He said uncertainly.

"Really?"

"Yes." He said, even quieter than before. He hugged him tighter than before and whispered to him.

"I love you too." Hermione felt his whole body relax as relief flooded through him.

"Damn. For a moment I thought you were gonna jump up and run away or something."

"I wouldn't have done that."

"Well, I don't know!"

They both started laughing.

"Well, now that we've declared our undying love for each other…"

"Whoa, whoa, I never said undying, did you? It could die tomorrow for all we know." He smirked at her.

"Oh, don't be stupid. Anyway, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, I am telling you now – you go on any more 'adventures' and don't take me with you, you are sooo dead. Okay?"

"Yeah, I got you. I was sorta hoping that it wouldn't happen again though."

"Yeah, okay. I got you." She said back, mimicking him. He laughed again.

"So, Draco, who are you coming back as?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are you going back to Slytherin and Draco Malfoy, or are you staying Ravenclaw as Ryan Banks?"

"What do you want me to do?"

"I…I want you to be happy with where you are."

"Then I'm gonna be Ryan for this year."

He only got a hug as a response.

"Madame Pomfrey said you could come to the dorm tomorrow if you keep doing this well. Dumbledore will want to talk to you before he introduces you to the school. No one even knows that you're here besides the staff and us four. He didn't introduce me as Head Girl, apparently, we're waiting for you." She said with a snicker.

"Well, I think you'll have to wait a little longer. I have plans for right now."

"Oh, and what would that be?"

He flipped them over so that he was looming above her.

"This." Draco said simply, before going down and capturing her lips with his.

'Oh, yes, this is gonna be one fun year!'

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**Otay! How'd you like? Good? Horrible? What! There's still one more bit that I just have to add, cause I always pictured it ending that way, but that will be the next chapter. I have the cutest capris on today that make my small butt look absolutely fantastic, and I just feel so good that I had to share that with you all. See ya later! Oh, it's April 5, 2005! YAY! Just wanted to add that last bit. Bye!**

** Dizzy**


	14. The Riddle YAY!

**Hey peoples! This is the last chapter! Yeppers, it really is. Isn't it exciting! On to the story!**

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Chapter 14: The Riddle 

It was June 17th, six years later. Hermione was now 23, as was Draco. They were celebrating the day when Hermione found Draco in Swanton. Now in New York City, Draco was trying to make the day extra special for her and now they were in Central Park after a carriage ride. They had been talking for a bit when Draco said he had a surprise for her.

"Oh, and what would that be?"

He pulled a small piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to her.

"What's this?" She said, looking at him.

"A riddle." He said grinning, cause he knew how she loved riddles.

"Oh, I love riddles!" Hermione said excitedly and began to read.

Closer than close

Yet still so far

A silver ring,

An emerald isle

He asked for her hand,

And they danced into eternity

She stared idly at the paper, biting her lower lip, thinking deeply. Suddenly, her face lit up.

"I've got it! A marriage, no – an engagement!"

She looked up to find Draco oh-so-close. He kissed the tip of her nose, and leaned back. Getting on one knee while pulling a small box from his pocket, she just sat gaping at him.

"Will you dance into eternity with me?"

"OF COURSE I WILL! Yes, yes, yes!"

She launched herself from the bench and into his arms. Draco, being unprepared, fell back laughing. So they lay on the grass for a moment, earning some weird looks while they were at it.

"I love you."

"Of course you do, I'm Draco Malfoy."

She laughed. "Oh, yes of course. No one can resist you."

"That's right. But its okay, cause I love you too."

"Of course you do, I'm Hermione Granger."

They both had to laugh at that. Draco stood up, pulling Hermione up to a kiss. Pulling away almost three minutes later, he asked her a very important question.

"Would you like the ring now?"

"Oh, yes!" She giggled, unable to keep her happiness in.

He took the ring out and slid it on her finger. It was a simple silver band, inlaid with five small diamonds.

"Oh, Draco. It's Perfect!"

"You haven't even seen all of it! Look on the inside."

She glanced at him curiously, but did as she was told. She could barely make out the engraved words, as they were so small.

'I hereby declare my undying love for you'

Hermione laughed and put it back on, then smiled brilliantly at him.

"So, it won't die tomorrow?"

"Definently not."

"Good."

He kissed her again, this one passionately slow, full of love.

'Oh, no. It won't ever die.'

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**Well? How was the end? Did you like it? I did. I always wanted it to end this way, and now it has. That's it! I'm done! Wow. This is the first story I've finished in a really long time. I feel so happy with myself! I hope you enjoyed reading it and aren't too sad it's over.  
You should be seeing me soon though. I've already cooked up another plot for Hermione and Draco, so watch for me, k? I'll miss you all! Now it's time for THANK YOUS!**

**scarlet-knight13 Thank you! You were my first reviewer!  
blonde-with-her-moments We all have our own moments – well, at least I do.  
Tinkbelle  
yellowrosesinateacup  
Sarah TOODLES for the last time  
sweetie2  
Tinkerhell I love your name! Totally slammin'  
ginny-rules-the-world Your reviews always made me laugh! Thanks Bunches!  
write-or-wrong  
JellyBean032888  
ferokeroberos  
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Kelly Givens  
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Samantha Cameron You're such a loyal reviewer, and you always inspire me to update sooner. Thanks!  
hannah-901  
Ann2212  
ronlover05  
blackroseangel69  
dramaqueen72  
plooshgirl Even though we had our problems, I still love ya. Just thought I'd add that Draco goes back to blonde once the year is over – cause I know you wanted to know! lol  
yanely1167  
bella me  
Kat You have no idea what it meant to me when you said you thought my story was really, really original! You've always been so encouraging, and I can't thank you enough for it! Love ya!  
jezebellerd15  
truegemini Hey! I'm a Gemini too!  
KyootNShort  
lyndaiz  
Zappy Monkey I love the name!  
Sammeh Is bold better? lol  
Curlyq2713  
psychick  
Dragons-Fires  
TinkerBell14934  
Bookworm1214  
Hdfan  
ferokeroberos  
Panther's-Princess  
AnglxDevl05 OMG! This is gonna drive me insane not knowing who you are! Email me! Maybe we already know each other and just don't realize it. I've been thinking about it, but I can't come up with anybody.  
F arazoider  
xoKaSsIeox  
SiLvErEyEdGiRl Would you like more tea? How about you, God? What flavor? Lol! Just had to add that, sorry. I'm glad you liked it so much.  
Kay89  
HPaggie09  
xoKaSsIeox  
Lucivar  
Jennifer-JAM  
dannyizhott88  
the unknown  
xOxOkIsSmYaSsXoXo  
sexyslytherin2 **

**It's time to go. If I missed anyone, anyone at all, I'm so sorry! I love all my reviewers! I'll miss you so much, reading that you liked my story always made me happy. Much Love! THANKS BUNCHES!**

**DizzyDawn007**

**AKA Sarah**


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